If No One Will Listen
by heatherann091
Summary: Nick is a jerk. Demi is a shy girl. When their paired together for an English assignment, Nick is dreading working with Demi. But after a while he starts to fall in love with her, and Demi with him. When he finds out that Demi is being abused both mentally and psychically, can he save her?
1. Chapter 1

"Hey, man," Zac says over the phone, "you should come to the Pier with us. Girls, booze…did I mention girls? What more could you want? "  
Nick sighs. "Can't. My mom found out that I was skipping school and said that if it happens again, I'm done."  
Zac laughs. "Sucks to be you!" He hangs up the phone.  
Nick resists the urge to throw his cell phone against the wall. Instead, he stuffs it angrily into his pants pockets and walks downstairs. He scowls at his mom as he passes her.

"Nick," she begins, starting to get up from the table, "can we-?"

"No," Nick says, quickly cutting her off. "I have to go to SCHOOL, remember?"

"But Nicholas—" she tries again.

Nick rolls his eyes and doesn't even dignify her with a response. He simply grabs his coat, flips her the finger, and walks out of the house and to school. He keeps his head down as he walks the halls. He really hates human interaction. He really hates people.

"Watch it, loser," he growls as he bumps into someone.  
"You watch it," Joe says. Then he realizes who it is and his eyes soften. "Nick," he continues quietly.

Nick looks up at his brother, nothing but hatred in his eyes. Joe takes a step back.

"Are you still mad at me about Mom and Dad's divorce?" he wonders.

"No," Nick says, his hands forming fists. "I'm mad that Dad picked YOU to live with him."He turns his back on Joe.

"Hey," Joe speaks up, "it's not my fault you're so messed up that Dad didn't want you."  
Nick spins around and glares hard at Joe, punching him square on the jaw. He smiles as Joe falls back with a thud.  
"Nick Johnson," a voice speaks up, "Principal's office. Now."  
Nick rolls his eyes and makes his way to the principal's office. "Yo," he says as he flops down onto a seat in front of the principal's desk.  
The principal sighs and rubs his temples. "This is the third fight this week, Nick, and it's only Tuesday! I just don't know what to do with you. Punishment doesn't work—I've already given you a months' worth of detention. Telling your mother doesn't work—"  
"Yeah, what am I, five?"  
He continues, ignoring Nick's sarcastic remark. "I've already suspended you for a week. Help me figure out what I'm going to do with you."  
Nick shrugs. "Let me off with a warning?"  
"Nick, this is your fifteenth warning! How many more warnings do you need?" He rubs his temples again, feeling a migraine start. "This is serious, Nick."  
"Yeah, uh-huh, sure. Can I go now?"  
The principal sighs. "If you get into one more fight, Nick, I'll have no choice."  
"What're you gonna do?" Nick wonders as he stood up.  
"I'll have to expel you."  
Nick shrugs. "More time to sleep with the other half of the sophomore class."

He smirks and walks out of the principal's office. He takes his cell phone out of his pocket and looks at the time.  
English, he thinks with a roll of the eyes. Awesome.  
"Nick, you're late," his English teacher speaks up when he walks into the room.  
"Thanks, Captain Obvious." Nick rolls his eyes again as he slumps down into his seat.  
"We were picking partners for a project," the teacher explains, her eyes narrowing at Nick. "You missed that."  
Nick shrugs. "Oh, well. Guess I'm shit outta luck then."  
"I already picked a partner for you," she says with a smug smile.  
His eyes widen. Please not the nerd, please not the nerd, please not the—  
"Your partner is Demi." She nods towards a girl in the back, who has her head down, her eyes closed.  
Nick groans, not trying to hide his displeasure or his disgust. The other kids in the room start snickering.  
And this day just keeps getting better and better.  
"You have to work with Demi for this English project?" Zac asks at lunch. He laughs.  
"It's not funny," Nick protests.  
"Just look at it this way. She's a nerd. She'll probably do all the work and just make you stand there. You won't even have to lift a finger!"  
Nick smiles at that. "I like that part." He looks at Zac. "What are you even doing here? I thought you were skipping school for the day."  
"I was. But after Vanessa and I had a little fun under the Pier, there wasn't much to do so I decided to just come here."  
"I thought you would've been with Vanessa all day."  
Zac rolls his eyes. "That bitch was worried that her daddy would find out that she wasn't actually at home sick so she took off."  
"If you don't like this girl, why are you with her?"

Zac looks at Nick. "You didn't just ask that question."  
Nick nods. "I did."  
"She's a good fuck." Zac rolls his eyes again before looking at Nick once more. "You know what I mean. I mean, why were you with Chloe all last year? She was a good fuck, too."  
Nick rolls his eyes that time. "Whatever." He gets up to throw his trash away.  
"Um, hi."  
Nick looks behind him and groans. "What?"  
"Um, I'm glad we're partners for Mrs. Lawson's English project. I'm really looking forward to working with you."  
"Listen, all right? I don't work on projects. Especially not with some nerdy bookwork who can't even get a date to the school dance. So, as long as you do all the work, and give me credit of course, we'll be just fine." He shoots a dirty glance at Demi and then started to walk to his locker.

He grabs his book bag out of his locker and walks out of the school. He walks home, knowing that his mom has a double shift at the hospital tonight. She was rarely ever home anymore, not that Nick minded. He could drink and fuck girls and do whatever he wanted and no one could tell him not to. It was perfect.

He grabs a can of beer out of the refrigerator and walks up to his room. He throws his book bag on the floor and lays back on his bed. He smiles to himself before taking a big sip of his beer and closing his eyes.  
"Um, can we talk?" Demi wonders the next day at school.  
Nick glances around. Already people were beginning to stare. "No." He begins to walk away from her.  
"Um, if you don't do this project," Demi says, falling into step beside him, "if you don't work on it with me, then I will tell the teacher that you didn't. And I know you're failing."  
"What are you, five? Are you seriously going to tattletale on me?"  
"I'm not doing this whole project by myself. And if you don't help me, there's only going to be one name on it. Care to guess who's?"  
Nick sighs. "All right, I'll work on it with you. But after school. At your house—"

"No!" Demi said a little too quickly. Nick gave her a strange look. Demi cleared her throat. "I mean, um…why don't we do it at your house?"

Nick stares at her like she was mentally handicapped. "Because I don't want anyone to see me with you," he replies, thinking that was obvious. "If I'm seen with you, people will laugh at me until I graduate—college! People are looking already. Now…go away." He glances at Demi like she is a piece of trash.

Demi's lower lip quivers but she won't give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. "So, tonight?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He pushes Demi—hard—as he walks by her.  
"Why were you talking to that nerd?" Zac wonders as he walks up to Nick.  
Nick shrugs, glancing back at Demi for a split second before looking at Zac. "No reason."  
"You're not going to be seen with her again, are you? You'll get laughed at until graduation day!" he says, repeating Nick's earlier words.  
He laughs. "Yeah, right. Me, with her? Ew, dude. Never."  
Zac laughs too and claps Nick on the back. "Good. So Vanessa has a friend that you might be interested in. A real tiger in bed. Or so I hear. We're gonna meet them under the Pier tonight. You in?"  
Nick doesn't even hesitate. "Of course."


	2. Chapter 2

Nick sticks his head into the living room, thankful to see his mom passed out on the sofa. He grabs his keys off the counter and stuffs them into his pocket. He walks to the Pier.

"Yo, dude." Zac stands up, forcing Vanessa off his lap. "You know Vanessa, but this..." He takes the hand of the girl sitting next to him. He looks her up and down, clearly approving. "This is Miley." He leans close to Nick and whispered, "You're welcome."

Nick smiles seductively at Miley and crashes is lips into hers, snaking an arm around her waist to hold her close to him.

Zac pulls on Vanessa's hand. "Let's go to the boat house."

Vanessa readily agrees and walks off with Zac.

Nick pushes Miley up against the side of the Pier, kissing her harder, trying to get her to kiss back. Miley pulls away from him, pushing on his chest.

"Stop!" she cries, tears falling from her eyes.

Nick frowns at her. "What's wrong? I thought you wanted this."

Miley shakes her head and slides down to the ground. "Vanessa is my sister," she explains. "She and Zac set up this whole thing because they think I need to get...laid." She starts to cry harder at that word.

Nick frowns again. "How old are you?" he asks.

"Fifteen," Miley replies, wiping at her eyes.

Nick's eyes widen. "Fuck," he murmurs. Then he slides down next to her. "I've never had sex either, and I'm eighteen."

Miley looks over at him. "Really?" she wonders. "Never?"

Nick shakes his head. "Nope," he answers. "Never."

"B-but," she says, "Zac and Vanessa said you've had sex with every girl in your high school."

Nick sighs softly and then looks at her. "They think I have," he explains. "Girls say I'm hot, and apparently every girl wants to be with me." He pauses for a second. "I go on one date with them and they want to have sex. But I don't. I'm not ready. I know my reputation, and I know people think I'm a player and an asshole, but I'm not. But sometimes it's just easier for them to believe I am."

"But how do they think you've had sex if you really haven't?"

Nick sighs once more. "The girls that I went out with started that. One girl said that she had sex with me, so now whenever I go out with one, they all say it. I don't know why, it makes no sense to me, but they do."

"Don't you ever want everyone to know that you're not nearly as bad as they think you are?"

Nick shrugs and looks down at his hands. "Sometimes," he finally answers. "But if I did that, Zac wouldn't want to be my friend anymore."

Miley frowns that time. "But wouldn't that be a good thing? I mean, Zac's not the greatest guy in the world to be friend's with, in my opinion. He's the asshole."

"I know," Nick replies. "You're right. But he's the only friend I have. If I lost him, I'd have no one."

Miley cocks her head to the side. "You don't have anyone else?" she wonders. "No one at all?"

"No," Nick starts, but then he stops hen he sees Vanessa and Zac tumble their way over to them. He stands quickly. "I advise you tell your sister that we fucked," he whispers down to Miley.

"That we _fucked_?" Miley repeats, her eyes wide. "That's such an ugly word! And we didn't! We didn't fuck, or have sex, or make love. We didn't do any of that stuff. Why would I lie about that?"

Nick rolls his eyes. "Whatever. If you wanna be a prude for the rest of your life, fine."

"Hey, man," Zac says, his words slurring heavily. "Was she a good fuck, or _what_?"

Nick rolls his eyes again. "Wouldn't know. She started to cry as soon as I shoved my tongue down her throat." He narrows his eyes at Zac. "Dude, she's a _fifteen_, man. Did you know that? _And _a virgin! What the fuck."

Zac holds his hands up in front of his face. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. I didn't know!" He turns to Vanessa. "She's only fifteen?"

Vanessa shrugs. "She's so uptight, she needed a good banging."

"I could've gone to jail!" Nick protests. "That's statutory rape!"

"Well, sorry!" Vanessa says, drawling out the word. "Who's gonna know anyway?"

Miley stands up shakily and looks at Nick. "I was wrong about you. You are an asshole!" She turns her face away from him so he can't see that she's crying and then walks away from them.

"What was that about?" Zac wonders, watching her leave.

"I don't know," Nick replies with a shrug. "Chick's psycho." He looks at his watch and pretends to sigh. "I should probably get going. I'll see you tomorrow?"

But Zac was busy sticking his tongue down Vanessa's throat again so he takes off for home, getting their a little while later.

Miley glances at her watch. The numbers flash 9:19. She sighs as she looks outside.  
"Dad isn't coming home tonight," she says to her puppy, Bella. She picks her up and holds her close. "It looks like Nick isn't either. I should've seen that one coming. She kisses Bella's head. Let's go to sleep, huh? I have to get up early." She puts Bella down and he walks next to her as she walks to the bedroom. She lays down and Bella jumps onto the bed and puts her head on Demi's stomach. She began to pet her absentmindedly as she drifts off to sleep. "Goodnight, Bella." Bella licked Demi's hand.

"So, tonight."

Nick looks at Zac. "Tonight...?" he wonders.

"Vanessa has another friend that you might like. She's of age this time, and she's definitely not a virgin-"

Nick holds up his hands, cutting Zac off. "No. No more girls, okay? I can get my own, thank you very much."

"No you can't!" Zac protests. "The last girl you fucked was Chloe _last year_! You need my help."

Nick shakes his head. "No. No offense, Zac, but you have a _horrible _taste in girls."

Zac opens is mouth to say something but then shuts it and shrugs. "Eh, you're probably right."

Nick chuckles softly and then looks up slightly. "Oh, no," he groans.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Um, I'll catch you at lunch?"

But Zac shakes his head. "Vanessa's dad is out for a few days so I'm going over there after third period." He picks his backpack off the floor and walks away.

"I thought you were coming over last night," Demi says as she stops in front of Nick.

Nick shrugs and begins walking away. "Had stuff to do. Couldn't make it."

"How about tonight?"

Nick shakes his head. "Busy."

"Tomorrow?"

"Nope."

Demi sighs in frustration. "If you don't make time for this project, I will tell Mrs. Lawson that you're not pulling your weight."

Nick groans. "Fine!" he snaps. "I have a date at nine," he lies, "so I'll be at your house at five."

"How about we just walk home together? Work until five? Then you can get ready for your date."

"How about we don't? I'm already getting laughed at for standing here talking to you. Do you know how much people would make fun of me if we actually walked home together? I'll be there at five."

Demi closes her eyes and forces the tears away. When she opens them back up, Nick is gone. She walks into the school.

Nick spots Joe at his locker and can't help but laugh.

Joe glares at Nick and points to the bandaid on his nose. "You think this is funny?"

Nick laughs louder. "I do, yeah. I mean, aren't you supposed to be tough? I punched you once and broke your nose? That's hilarious!"

Joe takes a step forward but his girlfriend, the captain of the cheerleading squad, stops him. "He's not worth it, babe."

"Yeah, listen to the slut. She knows what she's talking about. Besides, I might break your nose again."

"AJ isn't a slut-"

"Please!" Nick rolls his eyes. "Everyone knows that she sleeps around and that she's pregnant with some random dude's baby."

Joe looks at AJ, and then at Nick. "You know what, Nick? I don't know what happened to you, but I don't like it." He holds up his middle finger. "Screw you." He grabs AJ's hand and they both walk away.

Nick stays in school for the rest of the day. His mother is working another double shift tonight and won't be home until the next morning. He's dreading Demi. The day can't end fast enough.

When the bell rings, signaling the end of the school day, Nick doesn't even bother to stop by his locker. He takes off for home, trying to relax for a little before he has to be over Demi's. Before he knows it, five o'clock rolls around. He walks slowly to Demi's house—he had gotten her address from Mrs. Lawson. He stares at the house in shock.

He thought Demi was rich. Well, maybe not rich, but he always thought she came from money. But this house tells him the exact opposite. She lives in a poor part of town. The outside of her house is falling apart. Shingles are coming off the roof. Her porch is sagging. A shutter is hanging off one of the windows. Nick shakes his head and walks up the steps, knocking on Demi's door.

Demi opens it and tries to smile. "Hi," she says.

Nick opens his mouth to speak but stops when he sees a red mark on Demi's cheek. "What happened?" he asks, though he really doesn't care.

Demi shrugs and looks away from his face. "Softball," she answers in a whisper.

Nick looks at her skeptically. "Softball?" he repeats.

Demi nods, still not looking at him. "I got hit in the face with a softball."

"Oh," Nick replies, not believing her for a second.

"Why do you even care?"

Nick shrugs that time. "I don't," he replies nastily as he follows Demi into the kitchen/dining room. He sits down in one of the chairs.

"Do you want something to drink?"

"No," he snaps. "What I want is to get this over with."


	3. Chapter 3

"This is boring," Nick complains for about the tenth time.

Demi looks across the table at him. "Can you please shut up?"

Nick narrows his eyes at her. "I don't take orders from a nerd."

"If you hate me, if you hate _**school**_, why don't you just drop out?" she wonders.

Nick shrugs. "Because I need _**something **_to do. If I dropped out, I'd just be bored all the time. In school, at least I can have fun with my friend."

"Your friend?" Demi shakes her head. "I've seen you two, Nick. He doesn't act like much of a friend."

"You're way out of line." Nick stares at her. "You're just jealous, right?"

"Jealous? Why would I possibly be jealous of you?"

Nick smirks. "Because I have friends, and you don't."

Demi closes her eyes for a second. "I think you should leave." She opens them back up and wills herself not to cry. It isn't like she's never heard that before. She's used to it, so why is she upset now? "We can continue working on the project tomorrow."

Nick doesn't even bother to say goodbye. He stuffs his book into his bag and leaves.

When the front door slams shut behind Nick, Demi puts her head into her hands and begins to cry.

"Nick?" his mom wonders when he walks into the house a little while later.

Nick looks at her for a second but doesn't answer her. He makes his way to the stairs.

"Nicholas," his mom tries again.

"Don't call me that," he growls, turning to her. "Only Joe calls me that. Or...only he _called _me that."  
"You're acting like he's dead. He's not, Nick. He just went to live with your father."

"He's dead to me," Nick mumbles to himself.

"Are you mad at me about the divorce?"

"Yes!" Nick cries. "I am! You work all the time! You drove him away because you were never home!"

"Nicholas," his mom says once more. Nick glares at her so she quickly stops talking for a second. "Your father cheated on me, Nick. He cheated on me with a _lot _of women." She pauses for a second. "He also used to hit me."

Nick's eyes widen for a split-second but then rolls his eyes. "Nice try. You almost had me there with the whole 'cheating' thing, but there's no way he used to hit you."

"Ask your brother," his mom says when he turns his back on her. "Ask Joe. He knew. He saw it one night, and then the next day your father filed for divorce and soul custody of Joe."

Nick turns back to his mom and frowns. "That's why Joe went with him? Because Dad has soul custody?"

His mom nods. "Yes," she replies. "I got soul custody of you, and your dad got soul custody of Joe. I tried to fight it, but your dad knew the judge, and I lost."

Nick scowled at his mom. "That's low, even for you. Trying to turn me against my own father. Just because you were a lousy wife and mother doesn't mean that he's a lousy husband and father." He flips his mom the finger and walks upstairs to his room.

His mom sighs and slides down to the floor. "Oh, Nick," she says quietly, closing her eyes, "I'm so sorry."

Demi walks into school the next day, her head buried in a book. She bumps into someone and her book goes flying.

Zac laughs. "Watch where you're going, nerd."

Demi bends down to pick up her book and then begins to get up but Zac walks by her and pushes her down again.

"Oops." Zac laughs once more. "My bad." He walks away.

Demi picks up her book and walks to her English classroom.

"I tried calling you last night," Zac says over the phone later that night. "You didn't answer. Let me guess, you were with a girl, weren't you? Whenever you don't answer, you're with a girl."

Nick rolls his eyes, glad that Zac can't actually see him. "Maybe," he replies, which isn't actually a lie.

"Is she hot? Is she a good fuck? Can I get her number?"

Nick rolls his eyes once more and thinks back to what Demi said last night. She's right, he knows. Zac _isn't _a very good friend. But he's the only one Nick has and he's not about to jeopardize that friendship now.

"Look, Zac, I'm tired," he starts.

"That chick keep you up all night?" Zac interrupts. Nick can practically hear his smirk.

"Bye, Zac," Nick says and hangs up.

"Did you get hit with a softball again?" Nick wonders, staring at Demi's black eye.

Demi pulls her hair down over her eye. "Yeah," she replies after a second, "Um, let's get started, huh? I just want to get this over with."

"You and me both," Nick mumbles.

Demi sits at the table and takes her glasses off of her face. She opens her English book.

"You know," Nick says, looking at Demi, "you're actually really pretty without your glasses. Why don't you ever go to school without them?"

Demi glances at Nick. "Because that's not who I am."

"But aren't you tired of people always making fun of you? Don't you hate being the school's laughing stock?"

Demi nods. "Of course I am," she replies, "but why should I change myself just so I can fit in? If they don't like me, that's their problem. I promised my brother that I'd never let anyone change me."

"Your brother…?" Nick questions.

"He went to fight the war in Iraq," Demi begins. "He never came home." A single tear escapes from her eye. "Before he left, he took me into his arms and made me promise that I'd always stay true to myself, no matter what anyone said about me." She looks at Nick once more. "I have to keep that promise, Nick. Besides, why should I become someone I'm not? Yes, I hate getting laughed at all the time." She shrugs. "But I'm used to it by now, anyway. I've had to deal with it for four years."

"Is that your brother?"

Demi follows Nick's gaze. "Yeah, that's Kevin. That was taken the day before he left for Iraq."

"How did he die?"

Demi looks at him.

"I'm sorry," Nick begins to apologize. "If you don't want to talk about it—"

Demi cuts him off. "I'm glad you asked, actually. I know you didn't know Kevin, but every time I bring him up to my father…" She stops. "Well, he doesn't like to talk about it. I like having someone to talk about this with."

"So…what happened?"

Demi smiles a little, obviously proud of her big brother. "He died a hero," she tells Nick. "He saved a little baby from an explosion, plus ten of his fellow soldiers. He's a hero."

"What about your dad?" Nick asks then.

Miley shrugs. "What about him?"

"How long has he been hitting you?"

Demi looks at Nick once more, her eyes wide. "Wh—what do you mean?"

"Oh, come on. You don't really think I actually believed the whole 'I got hit with a softball' thing, did you?"

"He doesn't hit me," Demi says in a soft whisper, looking down at her hands.

"Demi–" Nick starts.

Demi raises her head to look into Nick's eyes. "He doesn't hit me," she says forcefully. "Okay? He doesn't."

Nick nods. "Okay," he replies hesitantly. Then he pauses. "What about your mom?"

Demi shrugs, looking down at her English book again. "I don't know who she is. She left us when I was only a few weeks old."

Nick stares at her, a shocked expression on his face.

Demi clears her throat. "Um, let's get back to work, huh?"

"Yeah," Nick agrees. He's still looking at Demi. "Yeah."


	4. Chapter 4

"Thank God this project is almost over with," Nick says as he stretches his arms over his head a couple days later. "I won't have to hang out with you anymore."

Demi rolls her eyes. "And here I thought we were just starting to be friends."

Nick laughs. "Friends? Me and you? Are you fucking kidding me? Thanks for the laugh."

"Then why were you talking to me like you cared about what I had to say?"

"I'm me. I don't care. I don't care about you, or your dead brother, or your father, or your pathetic life. I figure since we _have _to work together, we should _try _to get along. But as soon as this project is over and done with, I'm done with _you_, got it?"

Demi closes her eyes for a second.

"Oh, my God, don't start crying." Nick rolls his eyes that time and grabs his book off the table. "Like I said. Pathetic." He grabs his book bag off the floor and walks out the door.

Bella barks and jumps up onto Demi's lap. She puts her paws on Demi's stomach and licks her face.

Demi smiles and kisses Bella's head. "Thanks, girl. I needed that."

"Yo, Nick!" Taylor calls the next morning.

Nick turns around. "Yo. Did you just get back from Florida?"

Taylor nods. "Yeah."

"How was it?"

"Let's just say, I didn't leave the hotel room at all." He winks at Nick. "So, I hear you met a girl. She hot?"

Nick rolls his eyes. "Have you been talking to Zac?"

"Yep. He says she's been keeping you up. Damn, she _must_ be a good fuck. Anyway, are you skipping school today?"

Nick shakes his head. "I can't skip anymore or I'm going to be expelled."

"Sucks, dude. Oh, well. Bye!" He walks the other way.

Nick rolls his eyes as he walks the rest of the way to school. He sees Demi at her locker and goes out of his way to bump into her as he walks past.

"Sorry," he apologizes, a smug smile on his face, clearly indicating that he isn't sorry at all. "Watch where you're standing, nerd."

Demi looks at him for a second before turning back to her locker. She grabs the few books she needs, shuts her locker, and walks off.

Nick stares after her before walking to his own locker.

"How's your project coming, Demi ?" Mrs. Lawson asks a little bit later.

Demi glances up from her book. She looks at Nick and shrugs. "We're almost done."

"Yeah, thank God," Nick adds.

Demi goes back to reading her book. Nick balls up a piece of paper and throws it at her. The other kids in the class laugh. Demi's face gets red but she doesn't look at Nick. She just continues to read.

"You're early," Demi comments later that night, her hand over her midsection.

Nick looks at her stomach. "And you're bleeding." He pulls her arms away from her body. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Demi starts.

Nick sighs heavily. "Your dad did this, didn't he?"

"No," Demi replies, not looking at Nick's face.

Nick sighs once more and knows she's lying but doesn't press the subject. "Let's get you cleaned up, okay?"

Demi nods and walks to the bathroom. She opens the door to her bedroom first and a Yorkshire terrier comes trotting out. "This is Bella."

Bella sniffs at Nick and licks his hand.

"She likes you," Demi comments as she grabs a bandage from the bathroom closet. "She doesn't like many people." She reaches up to grab the peroxide but cries out in pain.

"Here," Nick offers, "let me." He grabs it off the shelf and pours some onto a cotton ball. "Lift up your shirt."

Demi looks at Nick and shakes her head.

"You have to. I can't help you if you don't."

Demi shakes her head again, vehemently this time.

"Come on, Dem." Nick moves one hand down to the bottom of her shirt and starts pulling it up.

"Stop!" Demi cries, pushing Nick away from her forcefully. She starts to cry. "Please don't."

Nick frowns. "Demi," he says quietly. Then his eyes widen when he realizes something. "What does your dad do to you?"

"Please don't," Demi says again. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please don't."

"Demi." Nick kneels down in front of her. "Hey. It's me. It's Nick. Your dad isn't here, okay? It's okay. I'm not going to...hurt you. I just need to clean that cut so it doesn't get infected. All right?"

Demi opens her eyes and looks at Nick, her tears subsiding.

"I promise I'm not going to hurt you." He reaches for the bottom of her shirt again. "Okay?"

Demi nods and lets Nick lift her shirt up a little. Nick stares at all of the scars that cover Demi's stomach. He looks up at Demi.

She looks away from him. "My home life isn't exactly perfect," she says quietly. "Though I guess you already realized that."

Nick swallows a little, not sure what to say, and presses the cotton ball against Demi's fresh cut. She winces and sucks in a sharp breath.

"Sorry," Nick apologizes. He grabs the bandage off of the sink and puts it over the cut. He stands up. "All better."

Demi puts her shirt down and looks at Nick. "I don't get you."

"What do you mean?"

"One day you act like you hate me, the next you're helping me out." Demi shrugs. "I don't get you."

"Look, don't get used to it, all right? Tomorrow at school, I go right back to hating you."

"Let me guess. You don't want to get laughed at, right?"

"Yeah, kind of."

Demi pushes past Nick. "Let's just finish this project. Five more months, and I'm out of here."

"What do you mean?"

"After graduation," she says, turning around to face Nick, "I'm out of here. I don't where I'm going but I'm getting as far away from this town, and the people in it, as I possibly can."

"Do you really hate it that much?"

"You see how people treat me. Shit, Nick, you're one of them! No one likes me. And you're right, you know. I have no friends. The only person I can ever talk to is Bella. I'm leaving with Bella so we can start a new life. Anything has to be better than here, right?"

"I guess. But this is home. I can't imagine leaving here."

"This doesn't feel like home to me." Demi sits down on the sofa and grabs her English book. "We only have a little bit more left. We might be able to finish it by tomorrow."

"What time is it?" Nick wonders later that night, yawning.

Demi glances at her watch. "Almost ten at night, wow. We've been working for five hours." She looks at Nick. "Do you want to stay over for a little bit? We can order pizza?"

Nick hesitates for a split second. "I don't know…"

"Oh, right. What's your girlfriend's name? Chloe?"

"I went out with Chloe last year," Nick corrects her. "And I don't have a girlfriend right now."

"But I heard you were dating—and I use that word lightly—a new girl."

Nick shakes her head. "Zac just assumes that. But I've never actually had a girlfriend before."

Demi frowns at him. "Never?" Then she stops. "Oh, yeah, I forgot. You don't date, right? What is it you and your 'friends' do? _Fuck_?"

Nick hesitates a moment before saying, "I've never actually done that either."

Demi's eyes widen. "Really?"

Nick shakes his head. "Nope," he replies. "I'm a virgin." He narrows his eyes at her. "I swear, if you tell anyone that..."

Demi holds up her hands. "Your secret is safe with me. Though I see nothing wrong at all with being a virgin. I think it's sweet. Your waiting for the right person, right?"

Nick nods. "Yeah," he agrees. "You are, too, right?"

Demi looks down at her hands for a second and says in a whisper, "I was." Then she looks back at Nick. "Um, so pizza?"

"Demi…"

Demi puts the phone down. "Right. Girls like me and guys like you can't be friends. I forgot. More pizza for Bella and me, then."

"No, you know what? Pizza sounds amazing."

Demi smiles at him. "Pizza it is."


	5. Chapter 5

"So," Nick starts, taking a bite of his pizza. "Ooh, hot!"

Miley giggles. "So?" she repeats.

He picks up a book that was on the coffee table. "Why do you read?"

Demi looks over at him and frowns a little. "That's a weird question. Don't you read?"

Nick shakes his head. "I used to. My brother and I used to read books together all the time. But after my parents divorced and Joe moved in with our father, I just...stopped." He shakes his head again. "So. Why do you?"

"Because..." She stops for a second. She absentmindedly feeds some of her pizza to Bella, who was resting on her lap. "Because when I read, I can escape reality for a little while. I can fall in love, and make new friends. I can go to Italy, or to Paris, or to Africa. I'm happy when I read."

Nick stares at her. "Wow."

"Is that a good 'wow' or a bad 'wow'?"

"Neither." Nick smiles at Demi. "It's a great wow." He glances at the clock. "I should get going." He grabs his book bag and stands up. "Thanks for the pizza."

Demi nods, holding a sleeping Bella close to her. "Same time tomorrow?"

Nick nods that time. "I'll be here." He stares at her for a second.

"What?"

"I don't know." He tilts his head to the side. "It's crazy but I think I may actually like you."

Demi feels her face get hot. "Really?"

Nick nods and puts his fingers to his lips. "But shh, don't tell anyone." He turns around and walks out the door.

Demi watches him leave. "Why do I feel like this, Bells? I can't fall for him. I know he'll just break my heart. What am I supposed to do?"

"Hey, where we you last night?" Taylor asks the next day at school. "I wanted to see if you wanted to go clubbing, hook up with some hot girls." He pauses. "Let me guess, you were with your new fuck buddy, weren't you? Is she hot? Help a friend out and hook me up."

"What happened to Selena?" Nick wonders.

Taylor shrugs. "She got boring. Had to ditch her."

Nick rolls his eyes. "I wasn't with a girl last night," he starts.

"Hey, Nick," Demi says, interrupting him.

Nick groans and rolls his eyes. "What?"

Demi hands him a book. "You left this at my house last night."

Nick groans once more and grabs the book from her. He glares at her until she gets the hint and walks away.

Taylor laughs loudly. "You were at _her___house last night?! Oh, my God, dude. You blew me off for _her?"_ He laughs again, louder.

Nick knows Demi can hear him. Hell, the whole _school___can hear him. He saw Demi's shoulders slump but doesn't move from his spot. He looks at Taylor and pushes him again.

"Shut up. I have to work with her for this project." He rolls his eyes once more. "Trust me; I'd rather work with _anyone___other than her."

"Can't you get a different partner? I mean, that kid with the bad acne and BO would be a better partner than the nerd."

"You don't think I tried? Demi's the only one left."

"Then why don't you just work by yourself?"

"Because I _need___a good grade on this, Taylor. If I worked on it by myself, I'd for sure fail. At least with Demi, I don't have to do _all___the work."

"Whoa." Taylor holds up his hand. "You're actually _doing___work?"

"I have to. Demi said she'd tell Mrs. Lawson if I don't."

Taylor shakes his head. "I'm telling ya, that girl _has___to have a crush on you." He laughs. "But that's so disgusting. Don't even think about doing her."

"Ew, nasty. Never in a million years will that happen."

"Although…" Taylor lets his voice trail off.

"Although?" Nick repeats.

"Maybe she needs to get laid," Taylor suggests "She seems to be really uptight. A good banging might be just what she needs."

Nick has to bite his bottom lip to keep himself from defending Demi. Taylor's wrong, Nick knows. Demi isn't uptight. She's just misunderstood. By her classmates, by her dad…by Nick.

"What are you doing tonight?" Taylor asks a few seconds later. When Nick hesitates, Taylor stares at him. "Don't tell me you're going over to her house _again_?!"

"I have to, Taylor. We're almost done the project. The sooner we're done, the sooner I can stop going to her house. Hopefully we'll finish it tonight and then I won't have to spend time with her _ever___again."

Taylor rolls his eyes. "Whatever, dude."

Demi looks up as the door opened. "You're early, Nick. It's not even four yet." She stares at the man standing in her doorway. "D–Daddy, what are you doing here?"

"I live here," he replies nastily, his words slurring. "Who's this Nick you were talking about?"

"A friend from school, Dad. We have to work on a project." She leans down and whispers to Bella, "Hide."

Bella looks at Demi for a minute and then quietly takes off for her room.

Her father walks toward the sofa and slaps Demi in the face. "You're a slut," he spits at her. "Just like your mother was."

Demi holds her cheek and looks at her father with hatred in her eyes. "Why don't you just leave like she did? I'd be better off on my own anyway. Without you, with no one but me and Bella."

"You'd be dead in a week if I weren't here," he says.

Demi scowls at him. "You're killing me a little bit more every day you hit me, every time you...rape me. Don't act like you care about me now."

"_No one _cares about you," he replies. "Don't you get that? You're a slut, and a whore, and no one gives a shit about you. If they did, someone would have taken you away from here a long time ago. But they haven't, and you're still here, and _no one _cares about you."

Demi swallows hard, knowing her father was right. She tries to keep her tears back—she always hates crying in front of this man—but it doesn't work and she starts to sob.

Her father laughs loudly. "You are _such _a fucking cry baby." He grabs her roughly and pushes her down onto the sofa, getting on top of her. "I'll shut you up." His hands move to his belt, undoing it, not taking his eyes off of Demi once.

"P—please don't," she whimpers, closing her eyes.

She knows not to cry when he does this. The first time she did, he beat her so bad she couldn't even walk the next day. She usually just closes her eyes and thinks about something, anything else. But this time she just can't. She starts to sob again.

"Shut _up_, you fucking bitch," her father says, slapping her across the face. That just makes her cry more, though, so he hits her once again.

"Daddy," Demi says, fear in her eyes, looking up at him. "Please don't."

Her father just shakes his head. "You asked for this." He takes the belt off and turns her over so her back is to him.

Demi closes her eyes again and waits for the pain to come.

"Do you want to go clubbing tonight?" Zac asks over the phone.

"Can't," Nick replies. "Have stuff to do."

"Dude, you're turning down a chance to get drunk and fuck some seriously hot girls because you 'have stuff to do'? Who are you and what have you done with my friend?"

Nick rolls his eyes. "Life isn't all about going out and getting drunk and sleeping with every woman you see, Zac."

Zac frowns at his phone. "Yes, it is!" he protests. "Getting drunk and _fucking _every woman I see is a great life!"

Nick rolls his eyes again and hangs up without saying goodbye. He really needs to reevaluate his friendships. He shoves the phone in his pocket and walks to the front door.

"Where are you going?" his mother wonders, looking from the kitchen table.

"Out," Nick says simply.

"Nick," his mother starts, "can we talk? Please?"

Nick sighs heavily and stops, looking in at her. Then he scowls, remembering the lies she said about his father.

"No," he tells her. "I'll be home late tonight."

His mom sighs and wipes at her eyes as he leaves. He walks quickly to Demi's house, not liking this feeling she gives him.

_You____can't____fall____for____her_, he told himself. _She's____a____nerd____and____a____geek.____If____people____know____you____like____her,____you'll____get____ridiculed____for____the____rest____of____your____life!_

He stops outside of Demi's house and thinks for a second. He's forced out of his thoughts by a loud scream.

"_Daddy_!"


	6. Chapter 6

"Demi?!" Nick exclaims, hurrying inside the house.

Demi looks up at Nick with scared eyes. She's lying on the floor.

"Leave, Nick!" she says. She struggles to get up but winces in pain and sinks back down. She's on the verge of tears. "I don't want you here. Please leave."

Nick hurries over to her and grabs her elbow. "What happened, Demi?"

"N—nothing." She pulls herself free from Nick's grasp. "Leave, please!"

"You're hurt, Demi." He reaches out to touch the bruise that was forming on her cheek but she cowers away from his hand. "What's the matter?"

"Don't touch me!" she cries. She tries to get up again but cries out in pain again. "Leave me alone," she begs him. "Don't touch me."

"Demi," he starts. That's when he notices the blood coming covering her jeans. "Oh my God. Demi." He reaches for her again.

"Don't touch me," she says once more, her voice a small whisper.

"Demi, it's me. It's Nick." He sits down next to her. "What happened? And don't say 'nothing' because it's something."

Demi shakes her head, closing her eyes.

"Demi, please." He tries to get her to look at him but she won't. "Did your dad do this to you?"

Demi finally turns her head to look at him. "My dad _does not _hurt me, okay? He does not touch me."

Nick looks at her and hesitates a moment before asking, "Who are you trying to convince, me...or yourself?"

Demi shakes her head again. "He doesn't hurt me," she says again quietly.

Nick sighs softly. "Is your cheek okay? We should put some ice on that."

Demi looks at him once more. "I still want you to leave, Nick."

"Why? Are you going to tell me what I did?"

Demi lowers herself onto the sofa. "I heard you and Taylor talking," she says.

Nick's eyes widen. "What did you hear?"

"How you said I was nasty, how Taylor said that I needed to get laid." She closes her eyes and forces the tears away. "Is that really what you think of me? Is that really what you guys talk about?"

"Demi, I just said that because I was talking to Taylor. You weren't even meant to hear that!"

"But I did. He said so many horrible things about me, and you didn't even _try___to defend me. Just don't come over here anymore, all right? I'll finish the project myself."

"But I need a good grade—"

"Don't worry," Demi interrupts. "I'll say that you helped me. You obviously care more about being friends with those jerks than you do about being friends with me. But it's okay. I'm used to it by now. I'm a loser, a loner. Always have been, always will be."

"Demi…"

"Now you're free to sleep with whoever you want, whenever you want. You can be the obnoxious jerk we all know you are."

"Demi…" Nick says again.

"Leave, Nick." She never once looks at him. "We both know you don't want to be here, so why are you? Just walk away."

"You know, you and I aren't that different."

Demi scowls at Nick and hits his chest, ignoring the pain shooting through her body. "Don't say that! Don't you dare say that! I am _nothing___like you. I don't use fear as a weapon. I don't make people feel bad just so I can feel better about myself. I don't pick a fight with someone just because they looked at me the wrong way. I don't fall for someone, and tell them I like them, only to make fun of them in front of my friends." She stares hard at Nick. "You are a bully, and a jerk. I am not like you, Nick. Not at all."

Nick stares at her for a second. "Demi," he says quietly. But she stares straight ahead, so he sighs and gets up and leaves.

"Dude, what's wrong?"

Nick looks across the table at David and Taylor the next day at lunch. "Nothing," he says. "I just didn't get much sleep."

"Banging his sex toy, no doubt." David laughs, and Taylor high-fives him.

"Ew, heads up, Nick. Here comes little Miss Nasty." Taylor nods toward the entrance of the cafeteria.

Nick turns around to look at her.

"She is so fugly," Taylor comments and nudges Nick's arm. "I can't believe you had to put up with that." He shivers. "Pure torture, if you ask me." He raises his voice so that everyone in the cafeteria can hear. "Ew, look, it's Demi. She's so ugly, who would want to fuck her fugly ass?"

Demi looks at David and Taylor and then at Nick. He sees tears in her eyes, old, unshed tears as well as new ones. He knows he should stick up for her. He should tell Taylor to shut up, to stop talking about her. He should say something, anything, to defend her. He should stand up on the table and tell the whole cafeteria how he really feels about Demi. But he doesn't do any of that. Instead, he watches the tears fall. He watches her stumble as she tries to run out of the cafeteria. He sees her shoulders shake as all of the kids laugh harder. He sighs and closes his eyes.

_You're____a____horrible____person_, he thinks.

Demi makes her way out into the parking lot, her sobs overtaking her whole body. It's a miracle that she could even stand up. She starts to walk. She doesn't know where she's going. The only thing she knows is that she has to get the hell out of here. Her best friend is gone, Nick is gone. What else does she have to live for anymore?

"Demi!" Nick exclaims.

Demi turns around, her vision blurred by the tears. "What?!" she cries. "What the hell do you want from me, Nick? Did you come out here to make fun of me some more? Because I'm really _not___in the Goddamn mood!"

"I didn't say anything, Demi. It wasn't me…it was them."

"I don't care who the fuck said it! You didn't do anything to _stop___it."

"Demi, what's wrong? You're obviously upset about something else. Tell me what happened."

"Why the hell should I tell you? You don't care." She turned her back on Nick.

Nick grabs her hand. "Now that's where you're wrong. I care about you. I care about you a _lot_. Tell me what happened."

"That's a lie," she says, turning around once more. "You only care about me when we're alone. When you see me in school, you act just like everyone else does."

"I'm sorry, Demi," he says. "I am. I just...I'm messed up, okay? I don't know why I act like such an asshole when I'm with my friends. But I _do _care about you, Demi. A lot. You're so different than any other girl I've ever met. I think I might actually be...falling in love with you."

Demi finally turns back around to face him. "R—really?"

Nick nods. "Yes."

Then she scowls at him. "You sure have a funny way of showing it."

Nick grabs her hand once more. "I'm sorry! What can I do to show you that I really mean it? That I really care about you?"

"You can start by actually being nice to me in public," she says, her eyes softening just the littlest bit.

Nick bites his lip slightly but then nods almost instantly. "Okay," he says finally. "Okay, I can do that."

Demi looks up at him. "You mean it? Really?"

Nick nods once more. "Really," he promises her. He looks behind him and sees Zac and Taylor watching him. "I'm going to show you how much I really care about you, right now." He takes a deep breath, brushes hair away from Demi's face, and leans down, kissing her softly, yet passionately, on the lips.


	7. Chapter 7

Demi's eyes widen and she quickly pulls away from Nick, cowering away from him.

Nick frowns confused. "Demi?" he says.

Demi shakes her head, backing away from him. "No," she whispers, squeezing her eyes shut tight. "Please, please don't."

"Demi," Nick says again. He reaches for her but then thinks better of it. "Dem, it's me. It's Nick." He takes a step closer to her. "I'm so sorry, Demi."

Demi finally looks up at him. "Please don't hurt me," she begs him.

"I'm not going to," Nick assures her. "I would never hurt you. Come here." He pulls Demi to him, holding her tightly despite her protests. She eventually relaxes and holds him tight too.

"Nick," she whispers, glancing over at Zac and Taylor, "your friends are looking at us–"

Nick cuts her off with another kiss. "Let them look," he tells her. "I'm through being an asshole. I'm though everyone _thinking _I'm an asshole. I love you, Demi, and I don't care who knows it."

Demi's eyes swell with tears and she falls into his arms, hugging him tight. "I love you too," she says against his chest.

Nick brings his arms around her too, holding her just as tight. "Come on, let me take you home."

"No!" Demi cries, pulling away from him. "Please don't take me home. Anywhere but there. Please."

Nick looks down at Demi. "If I ask you what your father did to you, you'd still insist he did nothing, won't you?"

Demi nods her head slowly and Nick sighs.

"Okay," he says after a minute. "I'm going to take you home to my house, okay? Get you some food. Cheer you up."

Demi nods again. "Okay," she agrees quietly.

Nick slips an arm around Demi's shoulders and walks with her into the school. He ignores the looks his so-called friends were giving him as he grabs his backpack from where he left it in the cafeteria. He and Demi walk out to his car. He reaches for Demi's hand hesitantly and uncertainly as he starts his car and squeezes it. Demi hesitates a moment herself before taking his hand in her own.

"I don't know what your dad does to you, but I promise you he won't ever hurt you again," Nick says, squeezing her hand again.

"I told you, Nick–" Demi starts.

"I know, I know," Nick interrupts her. "Your father doesn't hurt you." He glances at her for a second. "When are you going to stop lying to me? Better yet, when are you going to stop lying to _you_?"

"I'm not lying," Demi begins.

Nick pulls his hands away from her. "Demi, I _see _the bruises! You won't even let me touch you half the time because you think I'm going to hurt you like he does. I'm only trying to help you, so please stop lying."

Demi looks out the window, crossing her arms over her chest. "You can't help me," she finally says. "No one can."

"Mom?" Nick wonders as he and Demi walk into his house a little while later. "What are you doing home? I thought you had work."

"I do," his mom answers, looking up from where she's sitting on the sofa. "But I took a personal day because I really wanted to talk to you."

Nick sighs. "Mom, now is not really a good time."

"Then when _is _a good time, Nick?" she says, but Nick cuts her off.

"Mom." He nods his head at Demi, who's standing behind Nick, holding onto his arm.

"Oh." She stands up. "What's going on?"

"She's going to stay here, okay?" Nick wonders, slipping his arm around Demi again.

Her mother eyes Demi warily. "Nick," she says uncertainly.

"Mom." Nick cuts her off again. "We're not going to do anything. She just really needs a place to stay. Please."

His mother nods her head after a second. "Okay," she says finally. "She can sleep on the couch–"

"No. I'll sleep on the couch, she can sleep in my room." He turns to Demi. "You can wear some of my clothes since you don't have anything to wear. Do you want to take a shower first?"

Demi nods. "Yes, please," she says quietly.

His mother notices the giant bruise on her cheek and sucks in a sharp breath. Nick gives her a "don't say anything" look.

"Come on, sweetie," she says, putting a hand on Demi's back. Demi tenses up at her touch so she instantly drops her hand. "I'll show you where the bathroom is."

Demi looks at Nick and he gives her a reassuring smile.

"It's okay," he tells her. "After you shower and get dressed, I'll lay with you until you fall asleep, okay?"

Demi bites her lip. "I don't know," she starts.

"Demi, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. You have to know that by now. It's okay."

Demi looks up at Nick, chewing on her bottom lip. Then she nods a little. "Promise?"

Nick nods too. "Promise."

He gives her a soft kiss before she follows his mom up the stairs. He watches her and then sinks down onto the sofa with a loud sigh, closing his eyes.

"Nick?" a soft voice says a while later, pulling him out of his deep sleep.

"Mm." He opens his eyes slowly and looks up at Demi. "Oh. Hey, Dem." He sits up and rubs his eyes.

"You said you'd lay with me until I fell asleep," she reminds him.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, I must've fallen asleep myself. I haven't been getting much sleep lately."

Demi cocks her head to the side slightly. "Because of me?" she wonders.

Nick nods. "Yeah," he replies, "because of you." Then he looks up at her and takes in her appearance for the first time. "Damn," he breathes. "You sure do look good in my T-shirt."

Demi blushes slightly and looks down. "Can I lay with you now?"

Nick nods, not giving it a second thought, and opens his arms for her. She curls herself into his arms and closes her eyes. Nick lays his head on hers, closing his eyes too.

When Nick wakes up the next morning, Demi is nowhere to be found. He sits up and rubs his eyes again.

"Demi?" he calls. When he gets no answer, he frowns and gets up, walking into each room in the house. "Demi?" he says again.

When he still gets no answer, he grabs his coat and keys and walks out of the house. He gets to his destination a little while later and knocks on the door.

"Nick?" Joe wonders, and then frowns. "What are you doing here?"

"I really need to talk to you," he says, looking at his brother. "Please."

Joe's frown deepens. "Why? About what?"

"Demi," he says simply.

"Who's Demi?" Joe wonders.

"I'll explain that later," Nick says in a rush. "I just really need to talk to you. Please."

"Nick," he starts, but then stops when he sees the looks Nick is giving him. "Okay, Nick. Okay. Let me just get my coat and we can go for a walk, okay?"

Nick nods. "Thank you," he says quietly. He sinks down onto the front step to wait for his big brother.

"Come on, Nick," Joe says a few seconds later. "Why don't we walk to the park? We haven't gone there in a while."

Nick nods as he stands up. They start to walk to the park in silence.

"So," Joe speaks up, glancing over at Nick, "what did you _need _to talk about?"

Nick looks over at him too. "You're mad at me."

Joe rolls his eyes. "What gave you the first clue?"

Nick sighs and grabs Joe's arm to stop him from walking. "I'm sorry. I've been doing a lot of apologizing lately, and I need to apologize to you. For punching you, and for everything else. You're my big brother. You were my best friend at one point, and—and I miss you, Joe. I really do. Please, please say you forgive me."

Joe sighs. "I know you're sincere, Nick—I can see it in your eyes—but it's going to take a lot of time for me to forgive you, okay? You were _really _horrible to me, Nicholas."

Nick smiles slightly at his full name. "I've been getting that a lot."

"Now." Joe looks over at him again. "What's up?"

Nick sighs heavily and looks down at his sneakers. "What do you do when you know someone you love is being abused but can't do anything to help?"

Joe frowns once more. "Who's being abused?"

"Demi," Nick replies. "Her father is hurting her but she denies that anything is happening. I _know _he hurts her—I see the bruises, she cringes and tenses up and cowers away from me whenever I touch her." He looks over at Joe again. "Her dad...he rapes her, Joe."

Joe's eyes widen. "Oh my god," he says. "You have to get her out of that house, Nick. He has to go to jail."

Nick nods. "I know he does. But I don't know where Demi went. She laid with me last night, and fell asleep in my arms. But when I woke up this morning, she was gone." He looks at his brother, fear in her eyes. "I'm so worried about her, Joe. I can't lose her. I can't, I just can't."

"Okay, okay, shh." Joe pulls Nick into a hug. "She's going to be okay, all right?"

"You—you promise?" Nick asks, holding onto his brother, burying his face in his chest.

"Yeah, Nick," Joe says quietly. "I promise."

_I hope I didn't just lie to you kid,_ he thinks, still holding onto Nick. _I really hope I didn't._


	8. Chapter 8

"I can't wait to meet her," Joe speaks up a while later, looking over at Nick as they both sit on the bench in the park.

Nick smiles slightly. "You'll love her," he starts.

"I already do," Joe interrupts him.

Nick looks over at him and frowns confused. "You do? But you don't even know her—yet."

"I know I don't. But look at how much you've changed in such a short time. You were a jerk, and one of the biggest assholes in school, Nick. She brought you back to who you used to be...before the divorce and everything. Remind me to thank her for that. Because I've missed you, too, Nicholas."

Nick looks over at him once more. "You did? Really?"

Joe nods. "Really. You're my baby brother, man. We used to do everything together, remember? And then Mom and Dad got a divorce, and I moved in with Dad, and you became...someone you weren't. You started hanging out with Zac and Taylor. You started hooking up with random girls _all _the time–"

"No." Nick interrupts him this time. "I've _never _hooked up with girls. And when we go to school tomorrow, I'm going to put that rumor to rest once and for all."

"I didn't think those rumors about you were true," Joe muses. "I mean, yeah, you changed, a _lot_, but that _definitely _didn't sound like the kid I used to know."

Nick nods and is silent for a little before looking over at Joe again. "Hey...can I ask you something?"

Joe nods too. "Sure, bud, anything. What's up?"

Nick bites his lip slightly and looks down at his hands. "Did Dad used to...hit Mom?"

When Joe doesn't answer, Nick frowns and looks at him once more. His eyes widen as realization sinks in. "He did...didn't he?"

Joe nods slowly. "Yeah," he answers after a second. "Yeah, he did. He'd get drunk, and then he'd get mad about something, and he'd take it out on her. I saw him hit her once and stood up for her, and he ended up hitting me instead."

Nick eyes widen again. "That's how you got that black eye back in eighth grade?"

Joe nods once more. "Yep."

"But—but if you knew he hit Mom, why did you go live with him? I wouldn't want to."

"Because it was court ordered, Nicholas," Joe explains to him. "I _didn't_ want to, but I had to."

"Has he ever...hit you?"

"No," Joe says, much to Nick's relief. "He only hit me that once, when I stood in front of Mom, but he hasn't hit me since."

"Oh, man," Nick comments. "I owe her the biggest apology of all."

"Yeah," Joe agrees. "You really do." He pauses for a second. "I think you really need to go find Demi. Have you tried calling her?"

Nick shakes his head. "She doesn't have a cell, and I don't know her home number. Can you drive me to her house?"

Joe nods instantly. "Come on," he says, standing up.

Nick stands up too and they walk back to Joe's house. They're in his car and on their way to Demi's minutes later.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Joe wonders, coming to a stop in front of Demi's house ten minutes later.

"No," Nick replies, pushing open his door. "I got it."

"Nick." Joe grabs his arm, pulling him back before he can get out of the car. "If her father hurts _her _as bad as you say he does, what's to keep him from hurting _you _as well?"

Nick looks over at him. "You do care."

"Nicholas, I never stopped caring about you. Ever."

Nick gives him a smile. "I'll be okay," he assures his brother. "If anything goes wrong, I'll call for you, okay? I promise."

Joe nods hesitantly. "All right," he finally relents, letting him go. "Be careful!"

Nick looks back at him and smiles at him again, giving a thumbs up, before taking a deep breath and walking up to Demi's front door. He knocks on it hesitantly.

"Demi?" he calls when no one answers. He hesitates again before trying the door knob. It turns easily in his hands so he cautiously opens it and takes a step inside. "Demi?!" he says again. He hears a sound coming from a room down the hall and walks slowly to it. "Demi?" he whispers.

"Who the _fuck_ are you?"

Nick stops in his tracks and turns around slowly, staring up at the man standing in front of him. He swallows hard.

"I'm—I'm a friend of Demi's," he says, trying not to let his fear show. "I was—I was looking for her."

"Nice try," the man replies with a nasty laugh. "That whore doesn't _have _any friends."

Nick's hands form fists, his fear forgotten. He's through letting people talk bad about this sweet, wonderful, beautiful girl. Even her father, this six foot plus giant standing in front of Nick, isn't going to get away with calling Demi a whore.

"She," Nick says, emphasizing each word, "is _not _a whore. Do you hear me? And if you talk about her like that one more time, if you fucking _touch_ her one more time, I swear to God I will beat the shit out of you."

Demi's father sneers at him and then laughs loudly. "What are you going to do? You're about as tough as a fucking teddy bear."

Nick scowls at him and punches him square in the jaw. He staggers back only slightly and then glares at Nick, tackling him to the ground, punching him over and over and over again. He tries to fight him off but can't find the energy to. He closes his eyes and yells his brother's name before his world fades around him.

Joe looks up at the sound of Nick's cries and is out of the car and in the house seconds later. His eyes widen at the scene in front of him: his brother lying unconscious on the ground, Demi's dad on top of him, still hitting him.

"_Nick_!" he screams.


	9. Chapter 9

Demi races into the hospital later that night and up to the front desk.

"Nick Jonas," she says out of breath. "I need to see Nick Jonas. What room is he in?"

Joe glances up when he hears his brother's name. He gets up shakily and walks over to her.

"Demi?" he says quietly.

Demi looks over at him and recognizes him instantly. Her eyes widen as she takes in his appearance. "Did—did my dad do that to you?"

Joe nods slowly, his hand going to his swollen cheek. Demi sucks in a breath.

"Nick?" she whispers.

Joe shakes his head. "I don't know," he replies. "They won't tell me anything. All I know is that Nick is unconscious and has a concussion and that he hasn't woken up yet."

"Oh my God," Demi breathes. She walks over to a chair and sinks down in it. She puts her head in her hands and then looks over at Joe when he sits back down next to her. "What happened?"

Joe sighs. "He was worried about you, so he asked me to drive to your house. When we got there, he went in by himself and told me he'd call for me if he ran into any trouble. The next thing I know, he's yelling my name. When I got to him, he was on the floor, unconscious and bloody, and your dad was on top of him, hitting him over and over. I yelled and your dad–"

"Stop calling him that," Demi interrupts. "He is _not _my dad, okay?" Joe nods so Demi nods too. "Keep going," she says. "You yelled, and he...?"

"I yelled and your d—he looked at me and tackled me to the ground too, knocking me out. When I came to, Nick was still unconscious and that monster was gone."

Demi's eyes widen. "Oh my god," she says again.

Joe looks over at her now. "Where did you go?" he asks her.

Demi sighs, looking down at her hands. "I woke up, and I was in Nick's arms, and I just...I freaked. I got scared. No one's touched me like that before. No one's _held _me like that before. I just got scared so I left. I just walked. I didn't know where I was going. I couldn't go home, and I couldn't face Nick. He's seen a side of me I've spent my whole life trying to hide from, well, everyone."

Joe's eyes widen. "Your whole life?" he repeats. "Your father has been doing this to you your whole life?"

Demi's eyes widen again when she realizes what she's just said. "No," she starts.

"Don't," Joe interrupts her. "Don't do that. Nick told me about your father. How he hits you, and how he...hurts you. If he were awake, he'd tell you the same thing: stop the lies. Your father hurts you. He hurt Nick. He almost killed my baby brother. And you're really going to sit there and tell me that your father doesn't hurt you, has _never _hurt you? Because that's bullshit."

Demi squeezes her eyes shut but doesn't answer him.

Joe sighs and puts a hand on Demi's shoulder. Her eyes shoot open and she tenses up and Joe immediately drops his hand onto his lap.

"If your dad doesn't hurt you," he says slowly, "then why did you just tense up when I put my hand on your shoulder?"

Demi looks at him for a long minute and then opens her mouth to speak. But before she can get a word out, a doctor walks over to them. Joe glances up at him and then does a double-take when he realizes who it is. He jumps to his feet—and then has to reach a hand out for the doctor to steady himself when he gets dizzy. The doctor eases him back down into the chair.

Joe closes his eyes for a second to wait for the dizziness to pass. Then he opens them and looks up at the doctor once more. "How is he?" he wonders, fearing the answer.

"He woke up–" the doctor starts.

Demi's face lights up. "That's great!" she explains. But then she sees the look on the doctor's face and her smile fades. "Isn't it?" she asks.

The doctor nods slowly. "It is," he assures her. "But he lost a lot of blood, and he has a major concussion."

Joe's eyes widen once more. "But—but he's okay, right?"

The doctor nods again. "He is," he replies, "and we expect him to make a full recovery, but–"

"Can we go see him?" Demi wonders, interrupting him again.

The doctor sighs "You can," he says slowly, "but brace yourself, okay? He looks really bad right now." He stops for a second. "What happened to him, exactly? Who did that to him?"

Joe looks over at Demi and she shakes her head the tiniest bit. Joe frowns at her and Demi shakes her head more vehemently. Finally, Joe sighs and looks up at the doctor again.

"I—I don't know," he finally answers. "We—we were walking and we got mugged. I—I don't know who it was. It all happened—it all happened so fast."

The doctor frowns at Joe, clearly not believing a word he says, but he doesn't press the subject. Instead, he just nods slowly again. "You can go see him, if you want," he says after a second. "But keep in mind what I said, okay? He looks _really _bad right now."

Joe nods too. "Thank you," he says sincerely.

The doctor nods once more before walking away. Joe turns to Demi after the doctor is out of sight.

"Okay, what the hell?" Joe says. Demi cringes and cowers away from him. "Why didn't you want me to tell him about your father? He could've called the cops on that bastard! He could go to jail!"

"I don't _want _him to go to jail!" she cries.

Joe frowns, more confused than ever. "Why?" he asks after a second.

"Because I'm only seventeen," she replies. "I just _turned _seventeen. "If the police find out...about my father, they'll take me away and put me in foster care. I'll never see Nick again."

"So you're willing to put up with your father abusing you on a daily basis just so they won't take you away from here, away from _Nick_?"

Demi nods, looking down at her hands. "Theses last couple of weeks that Nick and I have worked together?" She looks back up at Joe's battered face. "They've been the best two weeks of my life. Nick...he loves me, Joe. And I love him. If they take me away, I'll lose that. I'll lose the only person who's ever loved me. I don't want that to happen. That _can't _happen." Demi swallows and looks down again.

Joe looks at her for a second before putting his hand over hers. Demi tenses up again but Joe doesn't pull his hand away. "Come on," he says. "Let's go see Nick."

Demi nods and stands up with Joe. She keeps her distance from him as they walk to Nick's room.

"Hey, buddy," Joe says, walking over to Nick's bedside. He tries not to stare at the giant bruises covering his brother's face, or at the several cuts Demi's father's ring made covering his cheeks. "How're you feeling?"

Nick smiles weakly at him and opens his mouth to speak but his throat is dry so he tries to swallow and winces in pain.

"I'll get you some water," Joe says, walking over to the sink. He gets a cup and fills it with water and then walks back over to Nick after putting a straw in it. "Here, Nick." He holds the cup up to Nick's mouth and Nick takes a small sip out of the straw.

"Thank you," Nick whispers.

Joe nods, taking a seat in the chair next to his bed, putting the cup of water on the table. Demi walks into the room after taking a deep breath.

"Hi, Nick," she says.

Nick looks over at her and almost jumps out of bed. But then he cries out in pain and sinks back down onto the bed, closing his eyes and breathing heavy. Joe puts a hand on his shoulder.

"You have to take it easy, okay? You have a major concussion, Nick. I don't want you to hurt yourself anymore than he's already hurt you."

Nick nods a little and blows out a sigh, opening his eyes back up to look at Demi. He opens one arm for her. Demi hesitates a moment and starts to shake her head but Nick stops her.

"Demi," he says, his voice pleading.

Demi bites her lip and hesitates again before walking over to him slowly. She lays down with him, careful not to touch the wires connected to his body or the bruises covering his face. She buries her face in his neck but then feels him wince and starts to pull away from him. But his arm tightens around her, not letting her go.

"Nick," Demi says, looking at him. "I hurt you. I felt you wince."

"I don't care," he tells her. "I don't care how much it hurts me. Please lay with me." He looks at her too. "I was so worried about you today. When I went over to your house this morning...I was expecting the worse. I thought I would find you lying on the floor again, or worse. I thought I'd find you dead. And that thought terrified me. But now that I know you're okay, I'm going to hold onto you and never let you go. I'm not going to let you out of my sight for a second." He squeezes her tight and she buries her face back in his neck. He winces again but holds her tighter.

"I'm so sorry," Demi whispers into his neck, an arm around his torso. "I'm so, so, so sorry."

"Sh," Nick says, rubbing her back in slow circles. "It's okay, it's okay."

Demi shakes her head. "This is all my fault," she says, starting to cry. "If I hadn't left this morning, you never would've gone to my house, and this never would've happened."

"No," Nick says forcefully. "It is _not _your fault, Demi, okay? Nothing that's happened in your life is _your _fault. And I want you to stop thinking that right now. I love you. You are the most incredible, most amazing, most _beautiful _girl that I've ever met."

Demi shakes her head. "No, I'm not!" she sobs. "I'm not incredible, and I'm not amazing, and I'm _not _beautiful–"

"Stop," Nick practically yells at her. She starts to cry harder so Nick sighs, holding her even tighter. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But I mean everything I said. You _are _all of those things, and more. I want you to stop thinking the worst about yourself, because those things—those things I know your father says to you—they're not true. Not at all."

Demi sniffs and lifts her head up to look at him. "How can you love me?" she asks him quietly. "I'm broken. I've been broken for a long time. How can you love me?"

Nick shrugs, wincing once more. "I just do," he says. "Do I need a reason?"

"I'm not...I'm not a _virgin_, Nick," Demi says, looking away from his face. "I know that you're waiting for the right one, and I was too, but my—my dad hurt me." She closes her eyes, forcing the tears away. She opens them and sees Joe watching them, but she continues anyway. "The first time he—he...raped me was when I w-was five."

Nick's eyes widen. "Five?" he says quietly. He feels sick. "Oh my god."


	10. Chapter 10

"Five," Nick says quietly. "You were five." Demi nods silently. "How often does he—does he do this?"

"Every day," Demi answers. Her tears have subsided, but she's still clinging onto Nick. "Sometimes twice a day. More, if I'm bad." She buries her face into his neck more, and when she continues to talk, Nick and Joe can barely hear her. "He makes me say that I like it. If I don't, he hurts me worse. But if I do, he still hurts me."

"Oh, Demi," Nick breathes.

"When I was nine," Demi goes on, "he brought friends over, and I had sex with them too."

"No," Nick says forcefully. "You didn't _have sex_, Demi. You were raped. There's a big difference."

Demi lets out a small sob but quickly gets her tears under control. "That night, after—after his friends were gone, he crawled into bed with me. I was already broken by that point and I didn't—I didn't want him to hurt me again, so I started to hit him and kick him and scratch him. I started to scream, so he—he put his hand over my mouth so I couldn't even breathe." She squeezes her eyes shut. "I bit him, and—and he called me a bitch, t-turning me over so th—that my back was to him. He—he took me from behind," she continues, letting another sob escape from her mouth. "It hurt so bad, Nick. I couldn't even get up the next day. But that didn't stop him from hurting me again."

Nick looks over at Joe and his face conveys exactly what Nick is feeling: pure disgust.

"A—a couple of years ago," Demi goes on, her tears subsiding again, "when—when I was fifteen, he decided that I was old enough to handle—to handle two guys...at once."

Nick's face drains of color. "What?" he says quietly.

Demi nods, gripping onto Nick tighter. "That really hurt too," she says, starting to cry again. "I c—I couldn't even w-walk for a month after—after that."

"Your brother didn't do anything to stop it?"

Demi shakes her head. "He didn't know," she says. "My dad would wait until my brother went to sleep to get into bed with me. My brother is a heavy sleeper." She stops for a second. "_Was _a heavy sleeper. An earthquake could've happened and he'd still be fast asleep. Once my brother—one we got the news that he died, the abuse...it got so bad. He started hitting me and punching me _all the time_. He'd hurt me before school, and then he'd hurt me as soon as I got home, and then later that night. It was a daily thing. Three times a day. Every day."

Nick swallows, the hatred he feels for her father mounting at everything she says. "When was—when was the last time...he hurt you?" he asks, though he already has a pretty good idea as to the answer to that question.

"Right—right before you came over," Demi tells him. "When you saw me lying on the floor? I stood up to him. I told him he should leave, that I'd be fine if he just left like my mother did, that I'd be fine with no one but me and Bella." At the mention of her puppy's name, she chokes back a sob. "He got so mad. He pushed me down onto the sofa and told me that he'd make me shut up. He turned me over so my back was to him, and he—he took me from behind again."

"Bella?" Nick says. "Where's Bella?"

Demi starts to cry once more. Nick slips his other arm around her, rubbing her back slowly.

"What did he do to her?" Nick whispers.

"Bella...she doesn't..." She stops. "She didn't—she didn't like it when he'd h-hit me. This time—this time she bit him, and—and he didn't like that, so he—he threw her across the room, and she..." She starts to sob, hard, gripping tightly onto Nick's shirt. "She's gone," she finally says, wiping her nose on his hospital gown.

"I'm so sorry," Nick whispers to her, kissing her head softly. She starts to cry again at that and Nick sighs and holds her even tighter, if possible. He waits a second before asking, "How many guys have there been?"

"A lot," Demi answers, her eyes closed. All of that crying has really worn her out. "I stopped counting after thirty."

Nick's hand forms a fist. "That son of a bitch pimped out his own daughter?!" he yells.

Joe puts a hand lightly on his shoulder. "Nick," he says.

Nick looks over at him and lets out his breath. He kisses Demi's head softly again. "Sleep now, okay?"

Demi nods slightly, snuggling into Nick even more. He winces but doesn't say anything about it. Instead, he holds her close to him, as if to protect her from anything and everything that means to do her harm. He looks over at Joe after he's sure that Demi's sound asleep. Nothing but fear and concern for Demi is in his eyes.

"What are we going to do, Joe?" he asks quietly. "Have you told the cops yet?"

Joe shakes his head. "No–" he starts.

"Why the hell not?!" Nick says, interrupting him.

Joe holds up his hands. "Demi didn't want me to," he explains. "She doesn't want to lose you."

Nick frowns in confusion. "Why would she lose me?"

"Because if someone takes her away from her father's house, they're going to put her into foster care, and who knows where she'll end up after that? I know how you feel about her, Nick. You wouldn't be able to handle losing her, either."

Nick swallows a little but nods, knowing Joe's right. "Then what are we going to do?" he asks again. "She is _not _going back to that house, to that monster. I won't let her." Nick's eyes light up. "Maybe she can stay with me!"

"And what are you going to do if her dad comes looking for her?" Joe retorts. "Protect her, Mom, _and _yourself?" He shakes his head. "You barely got out of there alive. There's no way you're going to be able to do that again. You could _die _next time."

"Better me than her," Nick murmurs.

Joe shakes his head again. "How do you think Demi would feel if you died protecting her? Or me, or _Mom_?"

"Yeah," a voice speaks up from the doorway, "how do you think your mom would feel?"

Nick looks over and his eyes widen. "Mom," he whispers.


	11. Chapter 11

A few tears rolls down Nick's cheeks. "Mommy," he says quietly.

"Oh, baby," his mom says just as quietly, walking over to his other side, leaning down to kiss his forehead.

Nick closes his eyes and pulls one arm away from Demi to grab onto his mother, gripping onto her tightly. He starts to cry.

"Sh," his mom soothes him, running her fingers through his hair slowly. "Sh, Nick, I'm right here, baby, sh."

They stay like that for a little while longer before his mom pulls away from Nick and looks over at Joe, smiling at him with tears in her eyes.

"There's my other baby." She gets up and walks over to him, brushing hair away from his forehead. She gives him a tight hug, and he hugs her back tighter.

"I missed you, Mom," he says into her shoulder.

She closes her eyes and leans her head on his. "I missed you, too, Joe."

She moves onto Joe's lap, one arm around his shoulders, and then reaches out a hand for Nick. He grips onto it tightly.

"When I first heard that you were in the hospital," she starts, "I was thinking the worst. I'm so glad you're okay, Nick."

Nick nods. "Me too," he says quietly. Then he frowns a little. "Wait, how did you know I was here?"

"It was on the news," his mom tells him. "What happened, Nicholas? Who did this to you?"

"We were—we were mugged," Nick begins, but his mother cuts him off.

"No," she tells him. "Don't give me the whole 'we got mugged' speech. I'm not that stupid, Nicholas."

Nick looks at her for a second before looking away. His mom squeezes his hand and he looks back at her. "Who did this to you?" She looks at Joe. "To both of you?"

Nick sighs and nods toward Demi, who's still fast asleep, her head nestled in the crook of his neck, one arm draped across his chest. "Her dad," he finally says.

His mom widens her eyes. "Her dad?" she repeats. Nick nods slightly. She looks at Demi and her eyes widen more at the marks around Demi's wrist. "Oh, my god," she breathes.

Nick follows her gaze and quickly pulls Demi's sleeve down past her wrist. He looks back at his mom.

"His dad hurts her," he says quietly, not wanting to wake Demi. "He hurts her real bad. She left this morning, and I got scared, so I went to Joe's, to—to talk to him, and then he drove me to Demi's, but she wasn't there, but her dad was, and he saw me, and he just started—he just started hitting me."

He was breathing hard by the time he was finished talking and his eyes had tears in them. His mom pulls her hand away from him and brings it to his head, rubbing it softly.

"Sh," she whispers. "It's okay, baby. You're okay, sh."

"I was so scared, Mom," he says, crying softly. "I didn't—I didn't want to die."

"You didn't," she reminds him. "Your big brother was there, and he protected you." She smiles at Joe for a second before turning back to Nick. "You're okay. You're right here, with me and with Joe, and—and with her." She gestures toward Demi's sleeping form. "You're not going anywhere, okay? Not for a long, _long _time. You got it?"

Nick nods but his lower lip quivers, indicating a fresh wave of tears is about to start.

"Oh, Nick," she says, getting up to engulf him in a hug again.

Nick grips onto her just as tightly as before. "I'm so sorry," he sobs into her neck.

"Sh," she says soothingly again. "Sorry for what, honey?"

"For—for how I treated you," he replies, still holding onto her with one arm. "For how awful I was to you. I'm so sorry, so sorry. Please, please, _please _forgive me. Please?"

"Nicholas, of course I forgive you," she assures him instantly. "You were going through a tough time, and even though it hurt that you thought I was lying about your father, I knew you'd be my little boy once again."

"I love you, Mom," he whispers to her.

"I love you, too, baby," she answers, kissing his head. She pulls away and smiles at him.

He smiles back and opens his mouth to say something but is cut off by Demi tossing and turning in her sleep. He immediately turns his focus to her.

"Demi," he says, bringing a hand to her hair. "Baby, wake up. Demi!"

He nudges her and her eyes fly open. She stares at Nick in fear and slaps him hard across the face before she realizes who it is. Then her eyes widen as Nick cringes in pain and clenches his teeth.

"Oh my god," she cries, bringing a hand to Nick's cheek. He cringes again and she immediately pulls her hand back. "I'm so sorry, Nick. I thought—I thought...oh my god."

She scrambles off the bed and hurries to the door.

"Demi!" Nick yells. She turns around to look at him but shakes her head and then leaves. He starts to get up but both Joe and his mom push him back down onto the bed. "Demi," he says quietly.

**I know this is short, and I apologize. Next chapter will be longer and better, I promise. Something happens within the next two chapters that I'm sure _none _of you will like...**


	12. Chapter 12

"She can't leave!" Nick cries, trying to get up again. "Her dad is still out there! Please!"

"No," his mother says forcefully, pushing him down once more. "You suffered a _major _concussion, Nick. You need to stay here until they say that you're okay to leave."

"Meanwhile, her father is doing God knows what to her?" Nick shakes his head and sinks back down onto the bed, defeated. "I have to save her."

"No, you don't, Nicholas," his mom replies. "That's not your job. She isn't your responsibility."

Nick looks up at her. "I'm the only one who's ever loved her," he says. "Do you know how sad that is? I'm the only one she has." He pauses for a second. "You owe her this change in me."

His mom frowns a little. "What do you mean?"

Nick sighs. "_She's _the reason I'm not a jerk anymore. _She's_ the reason Joe and I are okay again, _she's_ the reason I apologized to you. If we had never been paired up for that stupid English project, I'd still be the same asshole I was a month ago. But I'm not, and I—and _you—_owe that to _her_."

His mom shakes her head. "I don't care. Yes, I'm glad you're that sweet little kid you used to be again, but you are _not _getting out of that bed."

"Mom!" Nick tries.

"No," she says, ending all other discussion.

Nick sighs again and closes his eyes, pretending to be asleep. He can hear his mom and brother settle back into their chairs and their slow breathing, indicating that they have fallen asleep themselves. He opens his eyes once he's sure that they're both actually asleep. He sits up in bed slowly and pulls the IV out of his arm, wincing and biting his lip as he does that. He gets out of bed quietly and walks over to the closet, getting his clothes out. He realizes that the shirt is bloody, but at the moment, he has more important things on his mind. _Like saving Demi_. He quickly gets dressed and glances back at his mom and big brother before sneaking out of the room, out of the hospital.

_Hang on, Demi, _he thinks as he makes his way down the road to Demi's house. _I'll be right there. Just please hang on._

Demi doesn't know where she's going. When she left the hospital, she just started to walk. She knows she can't go home—her dad will be waiting for her there for sure. _With friends, most likely. _She has nowhere else to go, no one else to turn to, so she sinks down onto a park bench, puts her head in her hands, and starts to sob.

"I knew you'd come here," a voice speaks up from behind her.

Demi raises her head and looks behind her. Her eyes light up when she thinks it's Nick, but the light quickly dies when she sees that it's not Nick at all.

"D—Daddy," she says, standing up and taking a step back from him. "How—how did you know I'd—I'd be here?"

"Every time you ran away," her father says, taking a step towards her; she takes another step away, "you'd always come here. Don't you remember?" He smiles at her, and her stomach churns. "The park was always as far as you made it before I found you."

"Why—why did you even come looking for me?" she wonders.

He smiles again. "Because if you left, who else would I have to fuck?"

Demi swallows and bites her lip so she won't cry out and get sick right there. He walks over to her quickly before she has a chance to run away and grabs her. She looks up at him, fear in her eyes.

She knows she shouldn't say it, but she does anyway. "Please don't hurt me."

He smiles that sickening smile once more. "Oh, baby." She nearly gets sick again. "Of course I'm going to hurt you."

He picks her up and puts her over his shoulder, walking out of the park. She screams and cries and hits his back and kicks his chest.

"What did I say about kicking? And hitting? Do you really want me to hurt you that bad again?"

Demi immediately goes limp in his arms. "N—no," she says. "Please, please don't."

"Too late," her father answers, throwing her into the backseat of his car. "I'm going to anyway. You only brought this on yourself."

"Daddy!" she cries as her father closes the door to the back of the car and gets in himself. He starts the car and they're home minutes later.

Nick's halfway to Demi's house when he collapses. When he opens his eyes back up, Joe is standing over him, a worried expression on his face. His eyes light up when he sees that Nick is okay.

"What are you doing out here?" Joe asks him, grabbing his arm to gently help him up.

"I need—I need to find Demi," Nick answers, holding onto Joe for a second as a wave of dizziness washes over him. "Where's—where's Mom?"

"At the hospital," Joe replies, "still asleep. I woke up to go to the bathroom and saw you weren't in your bed. I figured you were out here for Demi, and I knew Mom would want to take you back to the hospital. But I also knew that you wouldn't want that, so I came out here to find you myself. You're going to Demi's, right?"

Nick nods. "I can't think of anywhere else that she'd go."

"Okay, come on. You are _not _facing that man by yourself again."

Joe slips an arm around Nick, holding him up, as they—very slowly—make their way to Demi's house.

Demi's father slams her against the wall as soon as they get inside. She cries out in pain from the impact. That just enrages her father even more and he grabs her, pinning her against the wall with his body. She whimpers.

"What did I say? Fucking _shut up, _you fucking bitch." He steps back and his hands move to the buttons on his jeans. He never once takes his eyes off of her. "You scream, and I hurt you worse. You're quiet, and maybe,_ maybe, _I don't hurt you quite so bad. Understand?"

Demi nods, but she knows it's a lie. Her father is angry at her, for getting Nick involved and for not coming home last night. He's going to hurt her worse than he ever has before, she just knows it.

After he's fully undressed, he starts to take off Demi's clothes as well. She squeezes her eyes shut but then her father is grabbing her face roughly.

"Look at me," he practically spits at her.

When she doesn't, he moves his hand to her hair, grabbing a fistful of it and pulling it hard. She cries out in pain, and then immediately regrets it as he both slaps her and pushes into her hard. She cries out again. She doesn't care anymore. She starts to sob, begging him to stop. He tells her to shut up, and when she doesn't, he puts his hand on her throat, squeezing it tight as he continues to force himself in her. She's finding it hard to breathe, but just when she thinks she's about to pass out, he pulls out of her and releases his grip on her. She falls down onto the floor, breathing hard and bleeding and sobbing. She curls into a ball, trying to get away from her father.

"Get up, you bitch," he says vehemently. "I'm not done with you yet."

"Please," Demi says quietly, not looking at him. "Please stop."

"I said," Demi's father sneers, "_get up_!" He grabs her roughly, forcing her into a standing position. He smiles at her. "I brought a friend for you to play with." He glances over at the door as it opens and smiles at Demi again.

"Hi," Zac says, an evil glint in his eye, as he steps through the threshold. "Remember me?"

**You'll find out why Zac is there next chapter. Enjoy!**


	13. Chapter 13

Demi presses herself against the wall and stares at Zac in fear. He walks over to her and grabs her face in his hands, leaning in to kiss her. She jerks her head to the side and Zac laughs.

"Don't act like you don't want this," he tells her, undoing his jeans. "I see the way you look at me in school. You want me, too."

"You're delusional," Demi spits at him. "You're disgusting. Why would I _ever _want you to even _touch _me?"

Zac scowls at her, bringing a hand to her hair and pulling it hard, just like her father did before. He leans down and gives her a hard kiss. She pushes him away from her.

"What are you even doing here?" she asks him, for once not caring about how bad this will hurt. "How do you even know him?"

Zac shrugs, moving down to her neck. Demi squeezes her eyes shut. "Your dad knows my mom," he explains. "Now, shut up." He presses his body against hers, pinning her to the wall. "I've wanted to do this for a while now." He smirks at her as he forces himself into her. She squeezes her eyes shut more and cries out in pain.

She starts to fight him, but the more and more she does, the harder and harder he hurts her. Eventually she stops crying and stops fighting and just takes it.

"See?" Zac says with another smirk. "I told you that you wanted this." He pulls out of her for only a second before he's back in her again, harder. She closes her eyes, wishing she were somewhere, anywhere, else.

"Come on, Joe!" Nick cries.

Joe sighs. "Nick, you can barely walk right now. You keep stumbling."

"We're so close!" he says, starting to walk again. "Just one more block away! Please, Joe!"

Joe sighs, holding onto Nick tighter to keep him upright. "Okay, okay," he replies, walking with Nick as quickly as he can to Demi's house.

"Demi!" Nick cries as he throws open her door. His eyes widen at the scene in front of him.

Zac glances behind him and smiles. "Oh, hey, Nick! Come join the party! I knew she was a good fuck."

Nick clenches his teeth, pulls away from Joe, and hurries over to Zac. He grabs him and pushes him away from Demi with much more force than he had. He nearly collapses but then he looks at Demi, at her bloody, broken body, lying on the floor and he gets angry all over again. Joe quickly gets out his cell phone to call the police.

"If you _ever _fucking touch her again, I swear you God I will rip your goddamn balls off and shove them down your throat."

Zac looks at Nick, confused. "What is your deal?"

"My _deal_ is that I'm tired of everyone pushing her around! I'm tired of her dad hurting her, and for once, I'm going to do something about it." He clenches his teeth once more and punches Zac, hard, in the face. He lands on the ground with a satisfying _**thud**_. Then Nick turns to Demi's father and advances upon him. He rises to his full height so that he's almost eye-to-eye with this monster.

"If _you _ever touch her again, I'll fucking kill you. I swear to _fucking _God."

Her father just laughs. "That's cute. But nice try. I beat you pretty bad last time. Ready for round two, I see."

Nick takes a step back and then punches him too, harder than he did Zac. At this point, his adrenaline runs out and he falls down to his knees, breathing heavy.

"Nick!" Joe cries, running over to him.

But Nick pushes him away and crawls over to Demi.

"Demi," Nick whispers. He reaches out to touch her but she cowers away from her. "Oh, baby." He sits down next to her and tries to take her in his arms, but she starts to cry so he immediately lets go. He looks over at Joe. "Give me your jacket," he says quietly.

Joe nods instantly and takes off his jacket, handing it to Nick. He takes it and starts to put it over Demi's naked body, but she starts freaking out again. Nick sighs.

"Oh, man," he breathes. "He hurt her really bad this time. Demi," he says to her in the most soothing voice he can manage, "it's me. It's Nick. I'm just going to cover you up, okay? So that you're not cold anymore. All right?"

Demi looks at Nick and nods her head very slightly. Nick smiles at her and puts Joe's coat around her. But then she lays down on the floor and curls up in a ball. Nick looks over at Joe.

"I called the police," he says.

Nick's eyes widen. "What?" he practically cries. "Why?!"

"Because..." Joe sighs and gestures toward Demi. "Look at her, Nick! The girl is broken. She needs help, help that you and I can't give her. And that sick fuck needs to go to jail. He needs to _rot _in jail. It's time you stopped thinking about what she _wants_ and started thinking about what's actually _best_."

Nick closes his eyes. "But I don't want to lose her, Joe."

"I know you don't, buddy, but this is what has to happen. Now she can get the help she really needs. Okay?"

Nick nods. "Okay." Then he holds his stomach and squeezes his eyes shut as he gets really dizzy.

"Nick?" Joe wonders, watching his brother with a worried expression on his face.

"I don't—I don't feel so good, Joe." He looks at Joe but finds it hard to focus on his face. Then his eyes close again and the last thing he sees before his world goes dark is Demi's naked, broken body lying next to him.

**This story is almost over unfortunately and I just wanna thank everyone who takes their time out to read this story and review it. You guys are awesome, and those reviews make my day. I just wanted to let you guys know that.**


	14. Chapter 14

Nick opes his eyes slowly and blinks in confusion at the bright light and white ceiling.

"Nick!" someone to his left cries. He turns his head and blinks again at Joe. "Oh my god, Nick, you had us worried sick."

Nick tries to sit up a little but winces in pain. He sinks back down onto the bed.

"Wh—what happened?" he wonders, his voice hoarse from lack of sleep. "How long—how long have I been out of it?"

"Two weeks, Nicholas," his mom says from his other side.

Nick looks over at her, his eyes wide. "Two weeks?" he whispers. Then his eyes widen more and he struggles to sit up. "Demi!" he says. Joe pushes him back down, and Nick turns to him. "Where's Demi?"

"She's right down the hall," Joe starts.

"Is she okay?" Nick interrupts him. "Can I go see her?"

Joe shakes his head. "No," he says.

Nick frowns. "But why not?"

"Because she's really scared, Nick," Joe replies. "And that's putting it mildly. She won't let anyone touch her, not even the women nurses. She hasn't said anything since you and I found her, and that was two weeks ago. I went and sat with her for a while, but she curled up on her bed and started to cry. I think..." He stops and looks down before looking back at Nick. "I think her dad really screwed her up, Nick. She won't eat, she's not sleeping. She needs therapy, but she's so scared of everyone that there's no way she'd be comfortable talking to someone she doesn't know."

"Then let me see her!" Nick says. "She knows me. She _loves _me. I can get through to her. Please!"

Joe looks over at their mom, and she shakes her head. But Joe shakes his head at her and looks at Nick once more.

"Okay, Nick," he relents. His mother lets out a heavy sigh. "But the _minute _you start to feel dizzy or sick, we're coming right back here so you can get some rest. Okay?"

Nick nods as Joe helps him up. "Wait, what happened to her father? And Zac?"

"They're in jail," Joe tells him. "Both of them are. They're waiting for their trials, but the police think there's a good chance that at least her dad could go to jail for the rest of his life."

Nick furrows his brow. "Not Zac?"

Joe shakes his head. "That's the first time he's done that, as far as the police can find out. And Demi's not talking, so we don't know if he's done that to her before or not. The police are trying to find other rape cases that Zac has been involved in, and if they _do _find some, Zac could be going away for a long time too."

"He deserves it," Nick replies as he gets out of bed shakily. "He hurt Demi so bad. He deserves exactly what her father gets. I can't believe I was ever friends with that creep."

Nick starts to take the IV out but Joe reaches over to stop him, shaking his head.

"You need that, Nick," he says. "It has medicine in it that you need. Okay?"

Nick sighs and nods. "Okay," he finally agrees.

He stands up but as soon as his feet hit the floor, he nearly collapses.

"Nick," his mother says, worried as Joe catches him before he hits the floor, "stay in bed, please."

"No," Nick replies, holding onto Joe.

"But Nick–"

"Mom," Joe cuts her off. "He needs to do this. You _know _he needs to do this."

"But–" she says again. Then she sighs and nods her head reluctantly. "Yeah, I know."

"Come on, buddy," Joe says to Nick, slipping an arm around his waist. He grabs the IV pole and pushes it along with them as they walk out of the room.

Nick is silent as they walk to Demi's room, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. When Joe stops, Nick looks up at him.

"There's...something else you should know, Nick," he starts.

Nick frowns. "What is it?" he wonders.

"Demi..." He stops, unsure how to say what it is he needs to say.

"Demi...?" Nick prompts, starting to worry.

"She—she tried to kill herself, Nicholas." Nick's eyes widen and Joe nods. "When she first got here. She's tried it a few times, and eventually, the doctors had to restrain her to the bed so she wouldn't. I just wanted you to know what you're in for when you see her."

Nick looks up at Joe again and swallows a little, nodding his head. "Okay," he says quietly.

Joe puts an arm around him again and they walk to Demi's room. He stops outside the room and opens the door for Nick. Nick takes a step into the room and then stops, his eyes widening at the small, emaciated girl lying on the bed. Joe stops behind him and puts a hand on Nick's shoulder. Nick looks up at him once more.

"I know, buddy," he says quietly. "I know."

Nick walks over to Demi's bed and sits down in the chair next to it. Joe stands behind Nick, a hand on his shoulder again. Nick looks at Demi and sucks in a breath as he looks at her arms, at the many scars and bruises and burns covering them.

"Oh my god," he breathes, a hand flying to his mouth.

"Her back is even worse," Joe tells him.

Nick blinks up at him. "Her back?" he repeats.

Joe nods. "When she was first admitted, the nurses tried to get her into a hospital gown, but she wouldn't let them touch her. So they asked me if I could try calming her down because you were in a coma, and I was the only one she knew. So I helped them, and I saw her back when I did. We figure—we figure it was a belt or something that made those marks."

"Oh my god," Nick says again. "I'm going to be sick."

Joe squeezes his shoulder. "But she'll be okay," he replies. "She's away from that monster now, for good, and she'll be okay."

Nick looks up at Joe once more, tears in his eyes. "But now they're going to take her away from me."

Joe kneels down next to Nick. "I know, Nick, but this is what's best for her. You know that, right? I mean, would you rather her be with you and still be abused and _raped _by her father, or would you rather her be safe, even if that means that she's away from you?"

Nick opens his mouth to say something but then he sighs. "You're right," he says. "This is what's best for her. This is what she needs. I'm going to miss her so much, but now she'll be safe. And that's all that matters."

Just then, Demi opens her eyes slowly and looks over at Nick and Joe. Her eyes widen and she tries to move away from them, but her wrists are restrained to the bed and she can't move.

"Demi, Demi," Nick says soothingly. "It's me. It's Nick. Okay? I'm not going to hurt you. Sh."

He reaches a hand out for Demi but she squeezes her eyes shut and turns her head away from him, letting a small sob escape from her mouth. Nick immediately pulls his hand back. He looks back at Joe.

"Can you give me a minute?" he asks.

Joe nods. "Okay. I'll be right outside if you need me."

He stands up and walks out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Nick looks back at Demi, taking in her appearance up close for the first time. He shakes his head.

"That bastard deserves to die," he says to himself. "He deserves to _burn_."

Demi jumps slightly from the tone of his voice and Nick sighs.

"I'm sorry," he tells her, speaking soothingly again. "I'm sorry."

"He reaches for Demi's hand again and she squeezes her eyes shut once more. But Nick doesn't pull his hand away. Instead, he holds it tightly. He needs to let her know that he's here for her, that he's not going anywhere. He needs her to know that he's never going to hurt her either.

"I love you," he says, still speaking softly. "I love you, and I am _always _going to be here for you. I hate that you're terrified right now, and I hate it even more that you're scared of me, but I love you and I'm going to be here for you, no matter what, forever. I just want you to know that." He gives her hand a squeeze, and after a second, Demi squeezes back. Nick looks back at her.

Demi swallows a little. "I love you too," she whispers, a single tear rolling down her cheek. "I love you too."


	15. Chapter 15

**The words that are in bold and italics is what Demi is writing down on the notepad, just so you know.**

Nick reaches a hand out to brush the tear away from Demi's cheek, but she squeezes her eyes shut again and lets out a small sob once more. Nick sighs and pulls his hand away. Demi looks back at him.

"I'm sorry," she starts, her voice hoarse.

Nick shakes his head, cutting her off. "Don't talk," he tells her. "Joe told me you haven't talked at all since we found you, and I don't want you straining yourself, okay?"

"But–" she tries. But Nick shakes his head again and Demi sighs, nodding her head.

"Here," Nick says, grabbing a pad of paper and pen out of the drawer. "You can write down what you want to say." But then Demi pulls on her restraints and Nick sighs. "Oh, yeah." He pauses for a second. "If I take these off, do you promise—do you _swear—_that you won't ever try to hurt yourself again?"

Demi nods eagerly so Nick sighs once more, reaching over and undoing the wrist that's closest to him. But when he gets up to walk to her other side, he falls to his knees.

"Nick!" Joe, who was looking through the window the whole time, comes running into the room, right over to Nick. He helps him up and back in the chair gently. "What are you doing?"

"Taking those restraints off of her," Nick replies, breathing heavy.

Joe bites his lip. "Do you really think that's a good idea?" he asks quietly.

Nick nods. "She swore to me that she won't try to hurt herself again."

Joe looks at him skeptically. "And you believe her," he says.

"Yes," Nick says immediately. "I do."

Joe sighs heavily. "Okay, Nick. But sit there and don't get up, okay? I don't need you passing out on me again."

Nick nods and sits back in the chair, taking Demi's hand in his again. Joe walks around to Demi's other side and undoes that wrist too. Demi doesn't take her eyes off of him until Nick pulls on her hand and she looks over at him.

"He's okay," he assures her. "He won't hurt you, I promise." Demi bites her lip, hesitating. "You trust me, right?" Demi nods almost instantly. "Then trust me on this. He's one of the good guys, he's not going to hurt you. _No one _is going to hurt you ever again."

Demi grabs the pen and notepad Nick had laid down on the nightstand and writes down something. She holds it up for Nick to see. Nick smiles at her after reading what it says.

"Yeah," he tells her. "Yeah, baby, I promise."

Demi makes a face and writes something else down: _**Don't call me baby.**_

Nick frowns. "Why not?"

_**Because he used to.**_

Nick immediately nods his head, understanding. "Okay. Baby's off the table. How about sweetie?" Demi smiles at him, the first smile in what feels like years, and nods. Nick smiles back. "Okay, sweetie it is."

Demi looks at Nick and quickly scribbles something else down. _**I'm sorry.**_

Nick frowns again. "What for?"

_**For you getting involved with me.**_

Nick's frown deepens. "What are you talking about?" he asks.

Demi starts writing again. A little while later, she holds the notepad up so Nick can see. Her handwriting is hard to read since her hand kept shaking, but somehow Nick does.

_**If you were never paired with me for the project, you never would've fallen in love with me, and my father wouldn't have hurt you like he did. I'm sorry about everything.**_

Nick shakes his head vigorously. "Stop it," he says forcefully. Demi cowers away from him and he sighs heavily. "If I had never gotten paired with you for that project, I'd still be the same asshole I was a month ago. You made me a better person. You _make _me a better person. I'm thankful for everything that's happened since that day, because it's all brought me you."

_**But he hurt you. He put you in a coma.**_

"I don't care. You didn't do that to me, he did. I got hurt trying to save you, and you know what? I'd do it all over again too."

Demi's lower lip quivers and a single tear slides down her cheek. Nick reaches out to brush it away again and this time, she lets him. She picks up the pen again and takes her time writing. She holds the pad up for Nick to see once more.

_**I love you.**_

Nick smiles at her. "I love you, too," he replies. Then he pauses, biting his lip.

_**What's wrong?**_

Nick takes a deep breath. "They're going to put you into a foster home," he starts but Demi cuts him off with a cry. Joe looks up from where he's sitting on Demi's other side. "Demi," Nick says, gripping onto her hand tighter. "Demi, sh, what's wrong?"

Demi starts to write something down but then stops and looks at Nick. "I don't want to go to a foster home!" she cries, her voice cracking.

"But why not? You'll be safe there. You can finally live your life without being afraid that your dad will hurt you. You'll be okay."

"But I'll be away from you!" she says. "I don't want to leave you."

"I—I don't want to leave you, either," he begins.

"Then don't!" Demi cries again, holding onto Nick's hand tightly. Her voice cracks again. "Stay with me! Let me stay with you!"

"Demi, you can't–"

"Please!" she says, trying to sit up. Nick pushes her back down onto the bed. "Please!" she says again.

"No–"

"Nick, _please_!" she pleads with him, starting to cry.

Nurses and a doctor come into her room at the sound of her cries and hurry over to the bed. The doctor injects something in her IV and then turns to Nick, glancing over at Joe.

"You two need to leave," he says.

Nick immediately shakes his head. "I'm not leaving her!"

"Nick." Joe stands up and walks over to him, easing him up. "Let's go. She's in good hands, okay?"

Nick looks up at Joe and then down at Demi. "But Demi..."

"Please," Demi says. "Please don't leave me!"

"I won't," Nick starts.

"Yes, you will," the doctor insists. He looks at Joe, and he nods.

"Let's go, Nick." He grabs Nick's IV pole again and starts pushing it.

Nick looks down at Demi, but she's already fast asleep from the medicine the doctor gave her. He closes his eyes for a second.

"I'll be back later," he promises his sleeping girlfriend a minute before walking out of the room with Joe.


	16. Chapter 16

Nick lays back in his bed and looks over at Joe as their mom brings the covers over him. "How is she going to handle being in a foster home if she can't even handle being away from me?" he asks quietly.

Joe sighs, sitting back down in the chair next to him again. "I don't know, buddy," he replies just as quietly.

Nick swallows a little and looks over at his mom, biting his lip. "Can she stay with us? Please, Mom?"

His mom sighs heavily. "No, Nicholas," she says, "she can't." Nick starts to protest but she holds a hand up. "I know how much you love her, Nick, and I owe her pretty much everything because she brought you back to me. But she can't stay with us. She needs to learn how to live without you, honey, and she can't do that if she's right down the hall."

Nick frowns. "Why does she need to learn how to live without me?"

"Because you were there for her at a time when she needed you the most. She's come to reply on you to be her savior, her shoulder to lean on. You can't be that for her twenty-four-seven. She needs to learn how to be strong on her own. Without you."

But Nick shakes his head. "She _needs _me!" he protests. "I'm the only one she's not afraid of. They can't just put her in a foster home where she'll be afraid of _everyone_! She needs me!" he says again.

His mom sighs once more. "I know she does, Nick," she says, "but she also needs to learn to be strong by herself. Don't try to argue with me, you know it's true."

Nick starts to protest but then he nods his head, looking away from her. "Yeah," he says quietly. "I know it's true."

"Get some sleep, buddy" Joe says, brushing curls away from Nick's forehead. "The minute something, if anything, happens with Demi, I'll wake you up, okay? I promise."

Nick looks at Joe for a second before nodding and closing his eyes slowly. He's asleep minutes later. Joe smiles softly and sits back in his seat, watching over his little brother. He looks up a little while later when he hears the door to the room open. He frowns at the woman standing there.

"Can I help you?" he asks.

The woman nods, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her.

"I'm Demi Lawson's social worker," she says.

"Oh." Joe sits up straight in his chair. "Hi."

"I need to discuss something with Nick," she continues, looking at Nick's sleeping form. "Is that okay?"

Joe nods. "Yeah," he replies. "Yeah, that's fine." He reaches over and nudges Nick gently. "Nick, bro, get up, buddy."

Nick stirs a little and blinks at Joe. Then he notices the woman standing by the door. "What's wrong?" he asks, suddenly alert.

"Chill, Nicholas," Joe assures him. "She's Demi's social worker. She needs to talk to you about something." He looks over at the woman. "Can my mom and I stay in here with him?"

The woman bites her lip slightly, thinking about this. "I don't know," she starts. "I think it'd be better if it was just me and him."

"But–" Joe starts.

But Nick reaches a hand out for his big brother. "It's okay," he tells him. "I'll be okay."

Joe bites his lip as he looks at Nick and nods slowly a few seconds later. "Okay, Nick," he says, standing up. "Come on, Mom."

He waits for their mom to stand up too and then he walks out of the room with her.

Nick watches them leave and then looks at the woman as she takes a seat in the chair Joe just vacated. "What's your name?" he asks her.

The woman gives him a warm smile. "Madison Spencer," she replies.

"Ms. Spencer–" Nick begins, but she stops him.

"Please call me Madison," she tells him, smiling again.

Nick nods. "Madison," he says, "what's this about?"

Madison crosses her legs and puts her hands in her lap. Professional. "As you know, Demi has been through quite a lot in her life. She has bruises and burns scars covering over half of her body. She's been raped over and over and over, violently, for who knows how long." She pauses for a second. "In a few days, she's going to be going to a rehab center. In California."

Nick's eyes widen. "What?" he says in disbelief. "_California_? No," he protests, shaking his head. "No, no, no."

Madison sighs. "I know how close you two have gotten. And I hate to take her away from you, I really do, but I know the people in the rehab center. They're good people, and they can help Demi. They have counselors there she can talk to. People who will help her get through this."

Nick looks away from her for a second. "But she won't have me."

"No," Madison replies. "I'm sorry, Nick, but I know this will be good for her. She'll get better. That's what you want, right? For her to get better?"

"Of course–" Nick starts.

"Then let me do this for her," Madison says, interrupting him. "I wanted to talk to you about this first before I talked to Demi because I needed you to be okay with this. I've talked to doctors and nurses, and even your mom. I know how much you've come to care for her, and I needed to know that you were okay with this." She pauses again. "Are you okay with this?"

Nick looks at her for a second and hesitates before sighing. "I want her to be okay," he answers, "and if that means she's not going to be with me, then...okay. I'm okay with it."

Madison tilts her head to the side. "Are you really?" she asks him.

Nick sighs again. "No," he replies.


	17. Chapter 17

**(To the person who wrote this review: "Hi! I am new to fanfiction and I have read a ton of stories. Out of all of them, yours is by far my favorite. I am considering making an account so I won't have to check every ten minutes for an update. :) Please update soon. I really want to see how Demi will take going to rehab. I think it would be really really interesting if Demi went to rehab and had some sort of accident and then Nick had to go to California. Thanks again for making amazing stories!"... Thank you. I don't know who you are but you made my day. I was just doubting my writing skills and then I get this review. I hope you know you made me smile. So thank you for that. And _for _that, this chapter is dedicated to you. Enjoy!)**

Madison sighs as she reaches a hand out and puts it on Nick's shoulder. "I'm going to tell Demi about this after I'm done talking to her, and if all goes well, I want her to leave by next week. So you guys will have a few days together. That's enough time to say goodbye."

Nick's lower lip quivers but he tries to hold his tears back. "But I don't want to say goodbye."

Madison sighs again. "I know you don't, Nick," she says. "Believe me, I know. But this is what's best for her. And you know it's what has to happen."

Nick nods after a second, swallowing a little. "Can I at least come visit her sometimes?"

Madison bites her lip again, hesitating. "I don't know if that's the best idea," she starts.

Nick frowns in confusion. "But why not?" he interrupts. "Why can't I come visit the girl I love?"

"She needs to get better," Madison replies. "She needs to realize that her father is in jail, that he'll never hurt her again. She needs to get better, and she can't do that if you're there." She stops when she sees the look on Nick's face and sighs once more. "Once she's settled into the rehab center, maybe, _maybe_, you can fly to California and see her."

Nick's face lights up. "Really?" he asks.

Madison nods. "Maybe," she says once more. "It all depends on how Demi is. If she's handling the move well, then it'll happen. But if she isn't...then it won't. Okay?"

Nick nods eagerly. "Okay," he repeats.

Madison smiles at him as she stands up. "I'll let you get some more sleep," she says. "I have to go see Demi now, anyway."

Nick nods and smiles at her for a second. "Are you going to be there for her while she's in California?"

Madison nods. "I am," she replies with another smile. "I'm actually from California originally, and I still rent an apartment there. I will be _right _down the street if Demi ever needs anything."

Nick smiles again. "Thank you," he says sincerely. "I do feel a lot better knowing that you will be there for her."

Madison smiles too. "You don't have to thank me for that," she says. "That's kind of my job." She smiles at him once more and walks out of the room.

Nick closes his eyes after she's gone and is back asleep within seconds. When Nick opens his eyes the next time, Joe is at his bedside once more.

"Hey, buddy," he says with a small smile. "We were starting to worry. You've been asleep for a whole day."

Nick's eyes widen a little at he sits up. He expects this to hurt him but all he feels is a slight pain in his head.

"Really?" he asks Joe. "A whole day?"

Joe nods. "So," he says, "what did that lady want to talk to you about?"

"Madison Spencer," Nick replies. "She's taking Demi to California."

"Ah," Joe murmurs. "That must be why we heard Demi crying last night."

Nick sits up more. "Is she okay?" he asks, immediately concerned.

Joe puts a comforting hand on Nick's shoulder. "Chill," he reassures his brother. "She's okay. She calmed down after an hour or so. She actually wanted you–"

"Why didn't you wake me up then?!" he cuts him off angrily.

"We _tried_, Nicholas!" Joe tells him. "But you were out, man."

Nick sighs and closes his eyes for a second. "Can I go see her?" he wonders. "Madison said she's taking Demi to California in a few days, so I don't have that much time to say goodbye to her."

"Sure, Nick." He stands up and then reaches down to help Nick up. That's when Nick realizes that he doesn't have the needle stuck in his arm anymore. "And it's not goodbye," Joe continues as they walk to the door. "It's only goodbye if you're never going to see each other again. You and Demi _will _see each other again."

Nick looks at Joe. "Do you really think so?"

Joe nods and smiles at him. "You guys love each other," he says matter-of-factually. "Nothing is going to keep you two apart."

Nick smiles a little. "I hope so."

"Oh," Joe speaks up as they get to the door to Demi's room, "good news. I was talking to a doctor while you were asleep, and he said you can get out of here in a few days. Isn't that great?"

Nick nods and smiles a little more. "It really is," he agrees. The he pauses, looking up at his big brother. "Joe...why hasn't Dad come here to see me?"

Joe sighs heavily. "Because he's a prick," he tells Nick. "Don't worry about him, okay? You have me, and Mom, and Demi, and you don't need to worry about him."

Nick nods. "Okay," he replies. He opens the door to Demi's room and smiles warmly at the girl on the bed. "Hi, Demi," he says, speaking to her soothingly again. He walks over to her as Joe stays in the doorway. "How are you feeling, sweetie?"

Demi looks at Nick for a second and then over at Joe, still wary of him.

Nick follows her gaze. "Do you want Joe to wait outside again?"

Demi bites her lip and then looks at Nick again. "He's...okay?" she asks, her voice cracking still.

Nick nods. "He's okay," he reassures her.

Demi bites her lip again but then nods. "He can stay," she says finally.

"Are you sure?" Nick asks her.

Demi nods. "I'm sure," she replies. "If you say he's okay...he's okay."

Nick smiles at her. "That's my girl," he tells her, leaning down to kiss her head.

Demi closes her eyes and tenses up for a second before relaxing when she realizes that it's only Nick.

"You're the only one she lets touch her," a voice speaks up from the doorway behind Joe.

Nick looks over at her. "Oh, hi, Ms. Spence—um, Madison." He smiles at her.

Demi looks over at her too. Her eyes widen. "Is it time to go to California already?"

Madison shakes her head with a small laugh. "No," she says. "Don't worry. You guys still have a couple more days together."

"Can I at least go to the airport with her?"

Madison nods almost instantly, much to Nick's relief. "I think that would be okay," she says.

Nick smiles at her and then down at Demi. "We get two more days together, _and _I get to go the airport with you. Isn't that great, sweetie?"

Demi nods slightly. "I wish you were going to California with me, too, though."

Nick's smile fades a little. "I know. I wish I was too. But I can come and visit you as soon as you get settled in. Then we can explore California together. Won't that be so much fun?"

Demi nods a little. "Yeah, I guess so." She looks up at him and reaches for his hand. "Will you at least call me every morning..._and _every night?"

Nick looks over at Madison and smiles when she nods, looking back at Demi.

"Of course," he tells her, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Of course I'll call you. Every day. I promise."

Demi smiles up at him and hesitates a moment before asking him, "Can you lay with me?"

Nick bites his lip too. "I don't know, Dem..." he starts.

Demi grips on tightly to his hand. "Please!" she begs him.

Nick immediately nods. "Okay, Demi, okay." He motions for her to move over and then lays down gently next to her.

Demi lays her head on Nick's chest, listening to his strong heartbeat. She closes her eyes.

"I love you, Nick," she says a second before she drifts off to sleep.


	18. Chapter 18

The next couple of days, Demi and Nick were inseparable. Nick didn't leave Demi's side, and Demi didn't let go of Nick's hand. And finally, the day both of them dreaded was here.

"Are you ready, sweetie?" Madison asks, knocking on the door of Demi's room.

Demi looks over at her and then up at Nick, an unspoken question in her eyes.

"You have to go," Nick tells her. "This is going to really help you, Demi. You're going to be okay, I promise."

Demi's lower lip quivers. "I'm going to miss you," she starts.

"Hey," Nick interrupts her, "we still have a couple more hours together. I'm going to the airport with you, remember? Your flight doesn't leave until two-fifteen, and it's only..." He glances at his watch. "Eleven forty-five."

Demi nods and swallows a little as Nick reaches down to pick up her bag. She studies his face closely when he stands back up. "Are you okay?" she asks him, reaching up to touch a bruise that hasn't healed yet.

Nick can't help but laugh. Demi frowns at him so he immediately stops.

"I'm sorry," he apologizes. "It's just funny, you asking me if _I'm _okay after what you've been through."

"Oh. Yeah, I guess that is kind of funny." Demi giggles softly, and Nick nearly melts at the sound. "But seriously, Nick. Are you okay?"

Nick nods and smiles at her. "Yeah, Demi, I'm okay."

Demi smiles back and opens her mouth to say something when there's a bang from out in the hallway. She screams and holds onto Nick, burying her face in his chest. Nick sighs and closes his eyes, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight.

"Sh," Nick whispers to her, rubbing her back in slow circles. "Sh. It's okay, Demi. You're okay."

Nick looks over at the doorway and sighs once more when he sees Joe, shaking his head.

"Come on, sweetie," he says, slowly pulling away from Demi. "It's time to go."

But Demi shakes her head, holding onto Nick more. "I don't want to go!" she cries. "I changed my mind. I just want to stay with you. I don't want to go. Please don't make me!"

Nick sighs heavily. "You have to go, Demi," he tells her. "You need to get better. You need _this_." He looks down at her, hesitantly taking her face in his hands. "Please do this for me," he whispers, his eyes pleading with her. "Please."

Demi looks up at him, into his eyes, and finally nods her head. "Okay," she says after a long minute, resigned. "Okay, I'll do it."

"That's my girl," he says with a smile. "Now, come on." He pulls away from her all the way and picks up her suitcase again.

Demi grabs onto his hand, not wanting to let him go. Nick smiles softly at her as they walk with Madison and Joe out of the room and then out of the hospital, going to Madison's car.

"I'm going to follow behind in my car, okay?" Joe speaks up, putting a hand on Nick's shoulder. "The doctors don't want you behind the wheel right now, since you still have a concussion."

Nick nods. "Okay." He smiles at Joe before putting Demi's suitcase in the trunk of Madison's Mustang. Then they get in the back, Nick's arm around Demi. "I love your car, Madison," he says with a smile as she gets in too.

Madison looks at them in the rear view mirror, smiling as well. "Thanks," she replies. "This is my baby. I've had her for about ten years now. Even restored her to her former glory myself."

Nick whistles, impressed. "That must've cost a fortune."

"It did," Madison agreed, "but it was so worth it." She smiles again and starts the engine.

Demi holds on tighter to Nick as she does, burying her face in his side.

"Sweetie," Nick says softly. "Dem, it's okay." He kisses the top of her head and smiles at her when she looks up at him. "It's okay," he says again.

Demi nods slowly, still holding onto Nick. He kisses her head again, holding onto her as well as they drive to the airport.

"Are you ready, sweetie?" Nick asks Demi a couple of hours later, standing in front of her, holding her hands.

Demi shakes her head, looking up at him. "I'm going to miss you so much," she says.

"Oh, stop it. You're going to meet new people, and you're going to have so much fun, and you're going to forget all about me."

Demi shakes her head. "That's not possible," she tells him. "I could never forget about you."

Nick smiles a little. "I could never forget about you, either," he tells her. Then he stops, biting his lip. "Is it okay if I kiss you now?"

_**Sorry, I know it's super short, but I just love cliffhangers! Will Demi let Nick kiss her, or will she push him away again?**_


	19. Chapter 19

"I—I don't know," Demi starts, looking down, away from Nick.

"Hey," Nick says, putting a finger under her chin and forcing her, gently, to look at him. "You trust me, right?"

Demi nods almost immediately. "Yes," she replies instantly. "I do."

"Then trust me here, okay?" he asks. "I love you, and I will never ever hurt you. You know that, right? You believe that?"

Demi nods again. "I do," she says once more.

Nick takes her face in his hands and steps closer to her, closing the gap between them. "Then let me kiss you," he breathes.

He waits for the slight nod of her head before he leans down, meeting her lips with his. Demi hesitates only a second before closing her eyes and kissing him back.

"Sweetie," Madison says a few seconds later, putting a hand on Demi's back. "We have to go, Demi."

Demi pulls herself away from Nick and looks back at Madison, nodding her head. She looks back up at Nick.

"I guess—I guess I have to go now," she says sadly, reaching for her bag that's sitting by Nick's side.

Nick nods and smiles a little. "I love you." He gives her another quick kiss. "Remember that, okay? No matter what happens, always remember that."

Demi nods and sniffs a little, closing her eyes for a second to keep her tears back. "I love you, too," she whispers to him.

She steps away from him and turns away from him, walking with Madison to their gate, not once looking back at him. Nick stays there until she's out of sight before turning to Joe, his lower lip quivering, a clear indication that he's about to start crying.

"Oh, Nick," Joe says, pulling Nick to him.

Nick grips on tightly to his big brother, burying his face into his shoulder. Joe doesn't say anything; he just holds him tighter, letting Nick silently know that he's here for him.

"Come on," Joe says after a little while, pulling away from Nick slightly. "Let's go home."

Nick nods and wipes at his eyes as he follows Joe out of the airport and to his car.

"Okay, so a couple things," Joe starts when they get in the car. "About school. You've been out for almost three weeks, and you're going back next month. I got all of your school work, so it's at home whenever you're ready to do it. But your teachers said that there's no rush, you can get it to them when you can."

Nick sits back in his seat. "Oh shit," he says. "School. I completely forgot about that."

"That's easy to do when you've been through what you've been through," Joe comments, starting the car and backing out of his spot.

Nick nods his agreement. "So, what's the second thing?" he asks after a second.

Joe glances at him and smiles. "I'm moving back home," he tells him.

Nick's eyes widen a little. "You are?" he asks in disbelief. "But what about Dad?"

Joe shrugs. "I'm nineteen," he replies. "Dad can't tell me what to do anymore. If I want to move out, I can. And I'm going to. I want to move back home. I want to be with you and Mom and be a family again." He glances at him again and frowns a little. "Aren't you...happy about this?"

Nick nods. "I am," he starts.

"Then what's with the face?" Joe interrupts. "You don't look happy."

Nick plays with his hands absentmindedly. "You turned eighteen last year. You could've moved out then," he said. "Why didn't you move back home then?"

"Because you hated me then," Joe reminds him. "You blamed me for the divorce. You wanted nothing to do with me. So I didn't think you'd want me to move back home."

Nick sighs quietly, looking at him again. "I'm sorry," he says. "I know I've said that before, but I really am. You're my big brother. You were my best friend. I was just...so angry. But I'm so sorry."

Joe glances at him once more. "Are we best friends again?"

Nick nods instantly. "Of course we're best friends again," he replies with a smile.

Joe smiles back. "Good."

"Oh," Nick speaks up a few minutes later, "and for the record, I am happy that you're moving back home. _Very _happy, actually." He chuckles a little, and Joe smiles again. "I'm not looking forward to going back to school, though."

"Why not?" Joe wonders, his eyes still on the road in front of them.

"Because everything's changed," Nick answers. "I'm not going to have any friends anymore."

"You'll have me," Joe reminds him.

Nick smiles a little. "I know that," he says, "but we don't have any classes together. I used to hang out with Zac, and Taylor. Obviously Zac's out of the question, and I can bet you that Taylor won't want to hang out with me anymore either."

"Do you really even still want to hang out with Taylor, though?" Joe asks him. "He's an asshole, Nick."

Nick nods. "Yeah," he agrees. "He's an asshole. But everyone in school still thinks _I'm _an asshole too."

"Then we'll just have to change their minds, huh?" Joe flashes his baby brother a smile.

Nick smiles too. "Yeah, we will." He's silent for a little as Joe drives home. Then he glances at his brother again. "What about you and AJ?"

Joe shrugs. "What _about _me and AJ?"

"How are things going with you two?"

Joe shrugs again and then sighs. "We broke up," he answers after a second. "You were right. She _is _pregnant. And I know it's not mine because we haven't had sex yet."

"That sucks, man," Nick says sincerely. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Joe tells him. "I'm not sad about it. I actually...like someone else anyway."

Nick raises his eyebrows. "Oh, really?" he says. "Do I know her?"

Joe shakes his head. "I doubt it," he replies. "She's a freshman in college. I take a class at the local college and met her."

"Wait, wait, wait." Nick holds up a hand. "You take a college class?"

Joe nods. "Yeah," he answers. "Since I got left back last year, I figured I should."

"Oh," Nick comments. He looks at Joe once more. "So tell me about this girl."

Joe looks at Nick as he comes to a stop at a red light, and his smile couldn't have been bigger. "She's amazing, Nick, and she's so cute—not that I care about what she looks like, but she is. And she's so sweet and kind...and I think she likes me."

Nick smiles at him. "Ask her out, man!"

"I'm going to," Joe says with another smile. "I have a class tomorrow and I'm going to ask her then."

Nick smiles more. "Good," he says. Then he stops and his eyes widen. "Shit. You haven't been going to school, either, have you?"

Joe shakes his head slowly. "No," he says after a minute. "But the teachers understand my situation too. I've been going to the school every day to get your work, and mine. That's what I've doing while I was waiting for you to wake up. School _and _home work."

"Are you going back to regular school tomorrow too, like you're going back to your college class?"

"I was thinking of it," he starts, looking over at Nick. "But if you don't want me to, I won't. Because you're going to be home all by yourself, since Mom is going back to work tomorrow too."

Nick frowns a little. "Mom took off from work too?"

Joe nods again. "She wanted to be there for you, and she couldn't do that if she was working doubles."

"But she needs the money," Nick says quietly to himself. "_We _need the money."

"She never takes a vacation, so she used all of her vacation days. She's getting paid for the time she took off, Nick. It's okay."

Nick lets out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness," he murmurs.

"So, do you?" Joe speaks up after a little. Nick brings his focus back to his big brother. "Do you want me to stay home with you?"

Nick shakes his head. "No," he says. "Go to school. I'll be okay."

Joe cocks his head to the side and then jumps a little when the person behind him lays on the horn. He looks up and sees that the light is green.

"Sorry!" he yells to the car behind him as he steps on the gas.

Nick can't help but chuckle. "You know the he can't hear you."

"Oh, yeah. Oops. Sorry!" he says again. Nick shakes his head with a laugh. "But seriously. Are you sure you'll be okay with being home alone?"

Nick nods. "I'm sure, Joe. My head hardly hurts anymore. It's not like you're going to come home and find me dead on the floor."

"Don't even put that image in my head!" Joe practically cries. "I _almost _saw you dead on the floor and I never want to have to see you like that, ever again."

Nick looks away from Joe's face. "I'm sorry," he says quietly.

Joe sighs and reaches over, putting a hand on Nick's shoulder, squeezing it. Nick looks back at him. "I'm just glad you're okay."

Nick nods and smiles a little. "I'm glad I'm okay too."


	20. Chapter 20

Over the next month, Demi and Nick talked every single day. Demi couldn't go to sleep until she heard Nick's voice. Nick called Demi as soon as he woke up. They'd talk for hours, about nothing at all. They were falling more in love with every conversation. And Nick loved it. But before he knew it, it was time for him to go back to school.

"Are you ready for this, man?" Joe asks his brother as they ride in Joe's car on their way to school.

Nick swallows a little but then looks over at Joe and forces a smile. "Yeah," he says, without much conviction. "Yeah, I'm ready."

Joe looks at him for a second longer before nodding, not believing him for a second. "Okay," he finally says after a long moment. "Okay."

They get to school a few minutes later and Nick gets out of the car after Joe parks.

"Hey," Joe says, getting out himself. He walks over to Nick and puts a hand on his shoulder. "I'll see you at lunch, okay?"

Nick frowns. "Lunch? But we have lunch at different times–"

Joe shakes his head. "I had my lunch period changed so we could have it together." He smiles reassuringly at Nick. "And if you need me, for anything, just text me. I have my phone on me, so yeah. Just text me."

Nick nods. "Okay. Thank you, Joe," he says sincerely.

Joe smiles again. "What are brothers—and best friends—for, huh?"

Nick smiles that time, a real, genuine smile. "Yeah." Then his smile fades as the bell rings. "See you at lunch," he says before taking a deep breath and walking off to his locker.

Joe watches him walk away for a second before walking to his own.

"Hey," a voice says as Nick opens up his locker to get his books out.

Nick looks up at the sound of his voice. "Oh," he says surprised, giving his friend a smile. "Hey, Taylor–"

But Taylor scowls at Nick. "Zac's in jail because of you."

Nick frowns. "What?" he says. "You're blaming _me_ for Zac going to jail? He raped Demi!"

Taylor rolls his eyes. "Whatever," he replies. "She needed a good banging, anyway."

Nick's hand forms into a fist as he grabs Taylor and shoves him against the locker. He leans in close to Taylor, nothing but pure hatred in his eyes.

"He didn't _bang_ Demi, he fucking _raped_ her," he spits at him vehemently "She said _no_, she didn't _want it_, and he _still _kept going! He raped Demi, and now he's in jail, and he's getting what he deserves."

"What happened to you, man?" Taylor wonders, pushing Nick away from him. "Since when do you care about _her_?"

He says that word with such disgust it makes Nick's blood boil.

"I _love _her," Nick tells him. "She's one of the nicest girls I've ever met, and I've fallen for her. _Hard_. And I swear, if you say one more word about her–"

"You'll what?" Taylor challenges. When Nick stays silent, Taylor starts laughing. "Yeah, that's what I thought. All bark and no bite."

Taylor starts walking away from him but Nick grabs him again and turns him back around, punching him hard in the face. Taylor staggers back a little and glares at Nick when he catches himself from falling. With a scowl, he lunges at Nick, tackling him to the ground. Nick pushes on Taylor to get him off of him, but Taylor just shifts his weight and doesn't budge.

"Not so tough now, huh?" Taylor growls at him, raising his fist to hit him.

But before he can bring it down to hit Nick's face, Joe's there. He grabs Taylor's raised fist and practically yanks Taylor off of his brother, sending him flying backwards. He kneels down to Nick's side and then looks up at Taylor.

"If you fucking touch my brother again, I'll kill you. Do you understand me, Taylor? I'll _kill _you!"

Taylor must see the murderous look in Joe's eyes because he immediately nods and hurries off. Joe glares at everyone who gathered around to watch the fight. They all back away, and Joe turns to Nick.

"Oh, God," he breathes, bringing a hand to Nick's curls. "Are you okay?"

Nick nods slightly but tears threaten to fall from his eyes. Joe nearly chokes up just looking at him.

"Oh, Nick." Joe grabs Nick's hands and, very slowly, eases him into a sitting position. Then he throws his arms around his baby brother. "Oh, God," he says again.

Nick holds onto him just as tight, burying his face into Joe's neck, starting to cry.

"It's okay, it's okay," Joe says soothingly, trying to reassure Nick as well as himself.

"Can you please take me home?" Nick asks quietly after a few minutes, sniffing as he wipes his eyes and nose on Joe's shirt.

Joe nods almost immediately. "Okay, buddy," he replies, pulling away from Nick, wiping his brother's tears away with his thumbs. "Let's go home. I'll text Mom and let her know."

Nick nods, standing up shakily with Joe. "Can you—can you stay home with me too?"

Joe sighs. "Nick–" he starts.

"Please," Nick nearly begs him, looking up at him with wide, sad, scared eyes.

Joe closes his eyes for a second but then nods again. "Okay," he says. "Okay, Nick, okay."

As soon as they get home, Nick drops down onto the sofa in the living room. Joe sits down next to him after making a quick phone call.

"Do you need anything, bro?" Joe asks him, looking over at him.

Nick shakes his head. "No, thank you."

"Okay. Well, I just called Mom and told her what happened. She's worried about you, and she wanted to come home, but I told her I was with you, that I'd look out for you. Are you sure you don't need anything?"

"I'm fine, Joe," Nick says with a small smile. "I just want to talk to Demi."

"Nick." Joe sighs, and then glances at his watch. "It's only eight-thirty in the morning here. It's only _five-thirty_ in California."

Nick sighs heavily. "But I need to talk to her. Please, Joe. I just need to talk to her. She'll answer if she sees it's me. I know she will."

Joe sighs again. "Nick," he starts. But then he sees the look Nick's giving him. "Okay, buddy. I'll give you some privacy."

Nick smiles a little more as Joe stands up. "Thank you," he says quietly. He waits until Joe is out of the room before dialing the number he knows by heart.

"Hello?" a groggy voice answers after a few rings.

Nick closes his eyes and smiles widely at the sound of her voice. "Hi, Demi," he says quietly.

He can imagine Demi sitting upright in her bed. "Nick?" she says just as quietly. "What's wrong?" Her voice is so full of concern that Nick almost starts to cry. "Are you okay?"

"I'm—I'm...fine," he says. But he knows that Demi can tell that he's not fine. He's not fine at all. "I just needed to hear your voice, that's all."

"What's wrong?" she asks him again. "And please, please, please don't tell me that it's _nothing_. I know you, Nick, just as well as you know me. I know when something is bothering you, so please tell me what's bothering you now."

Nick sighs and then finally manages to tell her what happened earlier that morning.

"I'm sorry," he says when he's finished. "I know it's really early there, and I'm sorry for waking–"

"Stop," Demi says, cutting him off. "I love that you called me, Nick, and I love that I can be there for _you _for a change instead of the other way around."

"I love that too." He sits back against the sofa and closes his eyes again.

"That guy's a jerk, Nick," Demi tells him matter-of-factually. "He's _always _been a jerk. It's just now, for the first time, you can finally see that too."

"Yeah...I know. You're right. He's an asshole. I've known him for ten years, and he's _always _been an asshole."

"You're better off without him," Demi comments.

"Yeah," Nick agrees. "Yeah, I am."

After that, they fall into a comfortable silence, both of them content to stay on the phone and not say anything at all. It was Demi who breaks the silence first.

"I really miss you, Nick," she says sadly.

Nick sighs softly. "I really miss you, too, Demi," he replies.

"When are you going to come visit me?"

Nick sighs once more. "I don't know, sweetie," he starts, but then he stops as an idea comes to him. "Soon, okay?"

Demi sighs that time. "Okay," she reluctantly agrees, and then yawns loudly.

Nick can't help but laugh at that. "I'm gonna go, okay?"

"But Nick–"

"You're obviously tired, honey," he says, cutting her off. "I know you want to talk to me—I want to talk to you too—but we can talk later. Okay?"

There's a silence on Demi's end of the phone. "Okay," she says after a long moment. "You promise?"

"Yeah, sweetie, I promise." He pauses a moment before clutching onto the phone. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Demi replies a second before Nick hangs up the phone.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Joe wonders, watching his little brother from the doorway to the living room. He furrows his brow when Nick stands up. "Where are you going?"

"To pack," Nick answers simply.

"To pack?" Joe echoes.

Nick nods. "Yep." He looks at Joe for a second before heading to the stairs. "I'm going to California."


	21. Chapter 21

"California?" Joe's eyes are wide. "California. As in, the other side of the country, California?"

Nick sighs in annoyance. "No, California in the UK. _Yes_, California on the other side of the country."

Joe shakes his head. "Are you insane? You can't go to California!"

Nick frowns a little, turning around to face his brother. "Why not?"

"Because—because–" Joe fumbles for an excuse. But unable to come up with one, he shrugs and looks at Nick. "Just because."

"Wow," Nick says. "That's awesome. So I can't go to California _just because_?"

"Yes," Joe says indignantly. "Just because."

"Oh. Okay." He starts toward the stairs again, going up them. "I'm going anyway."

"Nick!" Joe says in exasperation. He follows him up the stairs and stops in the doorway to Nick's room, leaning against the door frame. "I'm going with you."

"What?" Nick looks up from his suitcase sharply. "No way."

"Yes way," Joe says, his arms folded across his chest.

"Joe–"

"It's either I go with you, or you don't go at all," Joe interrupted. "And I think I know which one you'll pick."

Nick groans and glares at his brother. Joe simply smiles and walks to his own room, packing his bags as well. Nick walks into his brother's room about an hour later.

"I just booked our tickets," he announces, sinking down onto Joe's bed. "We leave first thing tomorrow."

Joe nods, looking up at Nick from his spot on the floor. "And what are you going to tell Mom about where you'll be? Because there's no way she's going to let you fly to California, not even with me." He sighs when he sees the look on Nick's face. "Let me guess, you haven't thought about that, have you?"

Nick shakes his head. "I was just so focused on wanting to see Demi that I didn't even think about Mom or what she'd say if I told her." He pauses for a second, looking at Joe. "You come up with something!"

"Me?" Joe asks. "Why _me_?"

"Because you used to always be so good at lying to Mom about where you'd go," Nick replies. "Remember when you went to that party a couple years ago and got _wasted_? You told Mom you were going over to a friend's to study and she totally believed you!"

"Yeah, she did," Joe murmurs. "Until I came home at one in the morning totally trashed. Then she figured out I wasn't where I said I was. Boy, was she _pissed_."

Nick chuckles. "Yeah, she was. And after she lectured you about not drinking again, she lectured _me _about _never _drinking."

Joe chuckles too. "She did?" He laughs and shakes his head but then sighs. "All right, Nick—wait, how long are we staying in California for?"

Nick bites his lip slightly and looks away from Joe. He can hear his brother's loud sigh, though.

"Dude. How long?"

"Um," Nick starts, finally looking back at Joe, "a month?"

Joe's eyes widen and his mouth drops. "A _month_? Are you fucking _kidding _me?"

Nick swallows and cringes at Joe's tone. He looks down.

Joe sighs once more. "I know you love her, man, but don't you think if you stay there for a whole month that it'd be even harder to leave her when that month is over?"

Nick plays with a ring on his finger. Joe glances at it and his eyes widen once more, in surprise. But he doesn't say anything.

"I was thinking that I wouldn't go home," he says quietly.

Joe frowns. "Not go home?" he questions. "Nick...you can't be serious. You can't stay in California." He gets up and sits next to Nick on the bed. "What about Mom? What about _me_?"

Nick looks over at Joe for a second. "Yeah, but what about _Demi_? She's all alone out there. She doesn't have _anyone_, and she needs someone. She needs _me_."

"That's not true," Joe protests. "She's not all alone. She has Madison. And Demi is a sweet girl, she'll make friends in no time." He pauses that time. "I don't think you wanting to stay in California has so much to do about Demi, but more to do about you."

Nick frowns a little, looking at Joe again. "What do you mean?"

"You miss her," Joe says. "A _lot_. I see the look on your face after you and Demi hang up. She's all you've thought about since she left. I don't think you want to stay in California because of _her _needing _you._ You want to stay there because _you _need _her_."

"That's not–"

"Don't even try and deny it," Joe interrupts. "I know you, baby brother. But it's okay. It's nice to need someone like that, and having them need you back." His sigh is so quiet that Nick almost doesn't hear it.

But Nick cocks his head to the side, looking at him once more. "You miss AJ, don't you?"

"What?" Joe looks over at Nick then and quickly shakes his head. "No. No way. She cheated on me. She broke my heart. Why would I–?"

"Joe."

Joe sighs again. "_Yes_," he finally admits. "Yes, I miss her. Okay? A _lot_. And I hate that I do. And I can't stop thinking about her either."

Nick gazes at his brother as the truth hits him. "You loved her," he states.

Joe closes his eyes. "I _love _her. I know I shouldn't, because she hurt me, but I can't stop. I love her, and I hate that I do."

Nick chews on his bottom lip, thinking. "Do you want to get back together with her?" he asks after a second.

But the shrug Joe throws his way tells him all he needs to know.

"And does she want to get back together with you?"

"Yes," Joe answers immediately. "She told me she does. She apologized for hurting me, for cheating on me. She said she was drunk when it happened—which isn't much of an excuse, but I know it's probably true. She likes to drink, and I try to go to all of these parties with her so she doesn't go overboard. But I missed one because I had a game, and that's when she got drunk and slept with him." He pauses again. "I think he might have put something in her drink."

Nick frowns. "Why do you think that?"

"Because the guy she had sex with is known to put things in girls' drinks so they'll be so out of it, they won't fight when he...rapes them."

"Whoa, hold up. You think this guy _raped _AJ? Seriously?" He shakes his head. "If this guy does this, and everyone knows about it, why is he not in jail?"

"Because no one's filed any complaints against him. No one's accused him of rape." Joe's hands form fists. "But maybe that's going to change."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're going to accuse some guy of raping your ex-girlfriend—who was drunk at the time of this so-called 'rape'–without any proof?"

Joe glares at Nick. "I thought you, of all people, would be behind me on this. Especially considering what happened to _your _girlfriend."

Nick sighs. "I know, you're right. I _am _behind you on this. But you're going to need AJ to come forward, too. You know that, right?"

Joe nods. "I know that," he agrees. "That might be a problem, though." He stops then, shaking his head. He looks at Nick again. "Look, I might be able to get us a week away, but there's no way I'll be able to get a month."

Nick sighs once more. "Okay," he finally relents. "Okay. A week's okay."

"I think Mom just got home, so I'll go talk to her now." Joe stands up.

"What are you going to tell her?"

Joe shrugs. "I don't know," he admits. "Wish me luck." He shoots Nick a smile before walking out of the room.

Nick lays back on his brother's bed. "Good luck," he whispers.


	22. Chapter 22

Joe stretches his arms over his head as he and Nick walk off the plane. "Wow, I'm tired."

Nick looks over at him and chuckles. "I am a little, too, but I'm more excited about seeing Demi than anything."

Joe nods. "I bet," he says. "I'll drop you off at the rehab center and then head to the hotel to check us in, okay? You can call me whenever you want me to come pick you up."

"Okay," Nick agrees. He looks over at Joe again. "What did you tell Mom about where we were going?"

Joe shrugs a little. "The Poconos," he answers. "I told her we just needed to get away for a while, to take your mind off of, well...everything. She agreed, since the Poconos are only about a half hour away from us."

"Are you sure she wouldn't have agreed to a month?" Nick asks after a minute.

Joe sighs softly. "I'm sure," he says. "I'm sorry, bro, but you're just going to have to deal with a week with your girlfriend for now."

Nick bites his lip slightly. "I don't think she's my girlfriend," he says finally.

"Yet," Joe adds with a wink.

Nick's still biting his bottom lip, in deep thought. "Do you think she's ready for a boyfriend? I mean, having a girlfriend means that _eventually _we'll have sex. I don't know if Demi will ever be ready for that."

"What are you going to do if she never is?"

Nick shrugs a little. "Be with her," he answers.

Joe raises an eyebrow. "Really? And never have sex? Ever?"

Nick shakes his head. "I love her. I fell in love with her because of _her_. If she's never ready to have sex...then we'll never have sex. I want to be with her, forever. No matter what."

"And you'll be okay with being a virgin...forever?"

Nick shrugs again. "Like I said. I want to be with her, forever. No matter what."

"Wow," Joe whistles. "When did my little brother become wiser than me?" He chuckles. "But seriously. That's awesome, Nick. That you'll still want to be with Demi even though it might not lead to sex. I know a lot of guys—a _lot_ of guys—who would turn and run. But not you." He slings an arm around Nick's shoulder. "My little Nicholas is all grown up." He ruffles his hair.

Nick pushes Joe away but can't help but laugh. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's just go get our bags, okay? I got a girl to see."

Joe smiles at his brother as they hurry to the baggage claim. They grab their bags and they go out to the car that Joe rented, getting in. Joe drops Nick off at the rehab center about twenty minutes later.

"Remember," Joe says as Nick opens the door, "call me when you're ready for me to pick you up, okay?"

Nick nods. "Okay."

"Though I don't expect a call until tomorrow morning," he says with a wink as Nick rolls his eyes and gets out of the car.

He waves at Joe and then waits for Joe to drive away before turning and going into the building. He stops at the front desk to ask the woman there what room Demi is in, then he smiles and thanks her and takes off down the hall.

_16, _he thinks. _Room 16. Where are you, room 16? _Then he spots it and smiles. _Demi, here I am!_

He smiles again and then knocks on her door. Demi opens it and squeals in excitement when she sees who it is.

"Nick!" she cries, jumping into his arms and practically knocking him down to the ground.

"Whoa, Demi!" He laughs as he steadies them and then hugs her back just as tight. "I missed you, sweetie."

"I missed you too." Demi buries her face into Nick's neck and closes her eyes. Nick sets her down on the ground and she finally pulls back from him a few long minutes later. "What are you doing here? What about school? I'm so happy you're here! What are you doing here?" she asks again, all in one breath.

Nick laughs. "Okay, to answer your questions: I'm here because I missed you; screw school; I'm happy I'm here too; and...same answer as the first one." He chuckles and then nods to the door to her room. "Are you gonna invite me in or what?"

Demi giggles softly. "Sorry," she says, quickly opening the door so he can walk in, following him in and closing the door behind her. "You didn't mean it when you said 'screw school,' did you?"

Nick nods, turning to her. "Yeah, I did. You're more important that school–"

"That's not true," Demi protests, interrupting him.

"Yes, it is," Nick says. "School's no fun if you're not there too. And besides, I missed you so much that I wouldn't even be able to focus even if I had gone to school."

Demi nods. "That's true," she says, sitting down on the bed and looking up at him.

Nick smiles and walks over to her, sitting down close next to her. "How do you like it here?" he asks after a minute.

"I like it," Demi answers with a smile. "Everyone is no nice here and I've even made a few friends."

Nick smiles too. "That's great, Dem," he says. "And you look happier too."

"Of course I'm happier. You're here, silly."

Nick smiles again. "That's sweet, but it's not because I'm here. You do look happier, and you look healthier too."

Demi shrugs. "My dad's not here. The kids from school aren't here. No one can hurt me, or call me names, or anything like that. Yeah, I'm happier. And you're here, so that makes me extra happy." She giggles softly.

Nick smiles again as he lays down on the bed, pulling Demi down with him. She hesitates a moment before laying her head on his chest, closing her eyes.

"Hey," Nick says a little while later. Demi lifts her head up and looks at him. "Are we, um–?" He stops and bites his lip.

"Are we...?" Demi prompts.

"I've never asked this before," he says quietly. Then he looks at her again. "Are we...together?"

Demi tilts her head to the side, confused for a second, but then her eyes light up when she realizes what he's asking.

"You mean are we boyfriend and girlfriend," she says. "You want to know if we're dating."

Nick nods. "Yeah," he replies.

"I don't know," Demi starts, looking away from him.

"You love me, don't you?" Nick cuts her off.

Demi looks back at him. "Of course I love you," she tells him.

"Then what's the problem?"

"I don't know," Demi repeats after a few seconds.

"I love you, Demi. I will never hurt you—you know that, right?" Demi nods so Nick goes on. "We won't do anything you're not ready for, I promise. Come on, I know you want this. You want to be my girlfriend as much as I want to be your boyfriend, so just say yes."

Demi swallows a little and then looks at him before nodding slowly. "Yes," she says.

Nick's face lights up. "Yes?"

Demi nods and laughs as Nick gives her a kiss. "Yes, I'll be your girlfriend." She smiles as Nick kisses her again.


	23. Chapter 23

"I haven't been this happy in a long time," Nick says a little while later, breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen over the young couple.

Demi nuzzles her face into Nick's neck; Nick holds her tighter.

"I've never been this happy," she says quietly.

"Well, I'm here now. You're going to be happy for the rest of your life." Nick smiles and kisses her head.

Demi smiles against his skin as Nick trails his fingers up and down her back slowly.

"That's weird," she comments.

Nick frowns a little in confusion. "What's weird?"

"You're the only one I let touch me," Demi replies, her face still buried in Nick's neck. "When the nurses and doctors in the hospital tried to, I'd get scared and kick and hit and cry. I do the same thing here sometimes when I have to go to therapy and someone just touches my arm or something. I freak out. But I don't get scared when you touch me or hold me or...kiss me. It's weird."

"It's not weird," Nick replies. "You just trust me and know I would never hurt you."

"But that's weird too." Demi pulls away from Nick to look at his face. "Trusting you. I never thought I would. I spent the last seventeen years of my life not trusting anyone but myself. And then you come along and all of my walls fall down and I find myself trusting you completely. It's a weird feeling."

Nick tilts his head to the side. "Good weird or bad weird?"

Demi smiles, kissing Nick's nose and giggling at the face Nick makes. "Good weird," she tells him. "Definitely good weird." She takes one of Nick's hand and intertwines their fingers together. "For the record," she says after a few seconds, "I'm glad you're here. Because if you weren't...I don't think I would be either."

"Demi–" Nick starts.

"Don't," she says, cutting him off. "It's true, and I know you know it's true. If you weren't here, if you hadn't saved me from my father, I'd be dead right now. I would've been dead a _long _time ago. I owe you my whole life, Nick."

Nick shakes his head, giving her hand a squeeze. "You don't owe me _anything_, Demi, okay? I didn't protect you from that _monster _so you'd _owe me. _I protected you because I love you and I couldn't just stand by and watch that bastard hurt you even more than he already has. And Zac..." His voice trails off. "Was that the first time he ever did that to you?"

Demi looks away from Nick, laying her head back down on his shoulder. "Yes," she says quietly. Nick can tell that she doesn't want to talk about this anymore but after a few minutes, she continues. "He said—he said that I wanted that, though. But I didn't. I _didn't _want it. You know that, right? I didn't want it...I didn't want it..."

By this point, Demi had started to cry. Nick wraps his arms around her tightly, rubbing her back in slow circles.

"I know, honey," he says soothingly. "I know you didn't want it. Zac forced himself on you, and I know you didn't want it. It's okay. You're safe now, I'm here, and no one is ever going to hurt you again, okay? I won't let them."

Demi sniffs, her tears subsiding a little. "You—you promise?" she asks him in a whisper.

Nick nods, still holding onto her. "Yeah, sweetie. I promise you. With all my heart, I promise you."

"I love you, Nick," she says to him, her head under his chin.

"I love you, too, Dem," Nick says back, a smile on his face. "Hey," he says a moment later, "are you hungry? I just realized I haven't eaten since New Jersey, and I'm _starving_." He chuckles and then blushes as his stomach growls loudly.

Demi giggles as she sits up, wiping away the last few tears. "Yeah," she says, "I'm pretty hungry too. Let's go to the cafeteria."

"Okay," Nick agrees as he gets off the bed after Demi does, slipping his arm around her as they walk out of the room.

"So, what are you going to do about school?" Demi wonders, talking around a mouthful of food.

Nick chuckles in amusement as he watches her. "What do you mean?" he asks confused. "What about school?"

"Well...you've been out of school for a month, right? And you're staying here for—how long are you staying here for?"

"A week," Nick answers.

Demi nods and smiles at that. "You've been out of school for a month," she says. "And now you're staying here for another week. You're going to be _out of school _for another week."

Nick shrugs, taking a sip of his diet Coke. "So?"

"Nick...if you don't have enough credits, you might not graduate," Demi tells him.

Nick looks down at the table, at his soda can. "I don't want to go back to school," he says quietly.

Demi frowns as she looks at him. "You don't—Hey." She reaches across the table and puts her hand over his; he reluctantly raises his head to meet her eyes. "You don't want to go back to school?"

Nick shakes his head but stays quiet.

"Why don't you want to go to school?" Demi asks then.

"I'll have no friends," he finally answers after what seems like hours. "And Taylor is still there. He still blames me for Zac being in jail. What if he...tries to hurt me again?"

Demi's eyes widen in realization. "You're scared," she says quietly.

Nick nods, looking down at the table once more. "I don't want him to hurt me again," he says just as quietly.

"Oh, honey." She reaches across the table for his hand once more. "He won't hurt you anymore—not with Joe there. He'll beat up anyone who even tries to hurt you, he know you will. I mean, I know I haven't known him that long, but I can tell that he really loves you. And I know that if anyone tries to mess with you again...they're dead meat. You have to know that too."

Nick nods slightly and then looks at her again. "Yeah," he replies. "Yeah, I know that."

"Good." Then she smiles at him, squeezing his hand before reluctantly pulling hers away. "Now, no more being sad, okay? You're here, you're mine, for a whole week and I want to spend that whole time being nothing but happy, all right?"

Nick nods immediately. "Okay," he echoes. Then he pauses for a second. "Do you think they'd let me stay here overnight?"

Demi takes another bite of her burger. "I don't know," she answers after swallowing her food. "Maybe, if you ask the lady at the desk really nicely. I haven't been in any trouble or anything since I've been here, so it should probably be okay." It was Demi's turn to pause. "You want to stay here overnight, too? Not just during the day?"

"Of course," Nick says instantly. Then he frowns a little. "Why? Don't you want me here?"

"Of course I do. But...your brother's here, too. Don't you think you should spend at least _some _time with him while you're here? We can spend the whole day together, but you should go to the hotel and do something fun with your brother, as well. I mean, you're in _California_. There's a _ton _of fun things you guys could do. Hit the beach and go surfing, or something."

"Go surfing?" Nick laughs and shakes his head. "You've obviously never seen my brother on a surfboard."

Demi laughs too. "No, but that is something I'd definitely pay to see."

Nick laughs again. "Hey, are you allowed out of here?" he asks suddenly. "Even just for, like, a day?"

"I don't know," Demi replies. "I never bothered to ask. Why?"

"Because I want to take you out," Nick says. "On a proper date. At a real restaurant, with real food."

Demi bites her lip slightly. "I might be able to sneak out," she says with a small giggle.

"Great. So tomorrow, okay? Seven o'clock?"

Demi smiles at him and nods eagerly. "Seven o'clock," she repeats. "It's a date."

_**Nick and Demi's first date is next chapter! I'm actually quite excited to write that. And it's Valentine's Day (in the next chapter) too, so double yay. Please comment?**_


	24. Chapter 24

"So you're taking Demi out to dinner?" Joe wonders later the next night, leaning against the door to the bathroom as he watches Nick get ready.

Nick nods. "Yep," he answers, looking in the mirror as he straightens his tie. "I totally forgot it was Valentine's Day since I've never celebrated before. So I want to make this Valentine's Day special for Demi since she deserves that."

"Are you expecting anything to happen at the end of this date?" Joe speaks up after a second.

Nick glances at Joe before looking back at the mirror. "What do you mean? Like...sex?"

Joe nods. "Yeah," he replies. "Like sex."

Nick shakes his head. "No–" he starts.

Joe cuts him off. "Oh, come on!" he says. Nick looks at him again. "Valentine's Day is, like, _the _day to get laid."

Nick frowns a little. "How would you know? You're a virgin."

"It's common sense, really. And..." He stops and bites his lip. "I'm not a virgin," he continues quietly.

Nick turns to Joe once more, his eyes wide with shock. "You're not?" he wonders incredulous. "But I thought you were waiting for the right person—like me. You obviously haven't found the right person if you're not with her right now."

Joe sighs heavily, walking into the bathroom and sitting on the edge of the bathtub, looking down at his hands. He doesn't say anything for a long time, and Nick doesn't push. Eventually, Joe lifts his head to look Nick in the eye.

"You remember that party I went to when I was fifteen?" he says. "I ended up drinking a lot—it was the first time I ever got drunk?" Nick nods his head silently. "Well...the next morning, I woke up—in bed—next to a girl I didn't know. I vaguely remembered her from the party the night before, and about a week later, I remembered bits and pieces of what the girl and I did." He looks back down at his hands again. "I regretted it, and I hated myself for it. I mean, I didn't even _know _the girl! And I had sex with her! I still get mad at myself when I think about it."

"So that's why you don't wear your ring anymore," Nick murmurs quietly, gazing at Joe's ring finger on his left hand for a second.

Joe nods sadly. "I haven't slept with anyone else since then," he goes on. "I made a vow to myself that the next girl I had sex with—the next girl I _made love to—_would be the girl I was going to spend the rest of my life with."

"You shouldn't beat yourself up over what happened at that party, bro," Nick says, kneeling down in front of Joe, looking up at him. "You were drunk, you had no control over anything. You were fifteen, you made a stupid decision, but it's okay. She didn't end up pregnant." He stops then, looking up at Joe again. "Did she?"

Joe starts to shake his head, but then stops and shrugs. "I don't know," he admits. "She didn't go to the high school, so I honestly don't know."

"Did you use protection?" Nick asks then.

"I don't know," Joe says again. "I can't remember."

Nick stands up and squeezes Joe's shoulder, going back to the sink, looking back in the mirror. "It's okay," he says matter-of-factly. He runs a hand through his hair and pushes a lone curl back but a second later it falls down in front of his left eye again. He groans and gives up, turning back to Joe. "Okay," he says, trying to lighten the mood. "Be honest. What do you think?"

"I think you need a haircut," Joe jokes, causing Nick to roll his eyes.

"Come on, Joe, seriously. I want Demi to like me. What do you think, seriously? Do I look okay?"

"Bro." Joe stands up and walks over to Nick, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Demi already loves you for _you_. What you wear is going to be the furthest thing from her mind." Nick starts to say something so Joe sighs. "_Yes_, okay? You look awesome."

"Really?" Nick presses. "Or are you just saying that because you're my brother?"

"Nick." Joe sighs again, heavily. "You really do look awesome, okay? But I stand by what I said. She's not going to care about the clothes you're wearing. She's only going to care about spending the night, about going on a date, with you." He pauses for a second. "Let me make you guys dinner."

"What?" Nick wonders. "You want to make us dinner?"

Joe nods. "Yeah. I saw a door leading up to the roof, and I'm pretty sure it's not locked. I can set up a table and chairs and I can make you guys a really nice dinner."

Nick bites his lip. "I don't know, Joe," he starts.

"Come on! You love my cooking. You even said my chicken parm was the best chicken parm you've ever had."

"That's true," Nick agrees. "You _are _a pretty amazing chef."

"A _pretty amazing chef_? Dude, I'm the _best _chef!"

"And so modest, too," Nick says with a chuckle. "But okay, I'd really like that. Thank you."

Joe smiles. "You're welcome." He squeezes Nick's shoulder and turns to walk out of the small, cramped hotel bathroom but Nick's voice makes him stop.

"Hey, who were you on the phone with earlier?"

Joe frowns a little, confused. "When?"

"Earlier," Nick repeats. "When you picked me up from the rehab center. You were on the phone with someone but as soon as you stopped the car and I got in, you hung up really fast. Who was it? I've been meaning to ask you."

"Oh," Joe says, turning back to Nick. "Um...it was no one."

"Wrong answer," Nick says, shaking his head. "Try again."

"Um," Joe says. "It was...Mom?"

"Nope. Keep going."

"It was...a wrong number?"

"Dude." Nick sighs in frustration. "I know it wasn't no one, or Mom, or a wrong number. Why won't you tell me who it was?"

"Because," Joe starts, and then sighs. "I don't know. I just don't want you to know."

"Why not?"

Joe looks passed Nick and sighs once more. "It was AJ," he finally admits. "I was talking to AJ."

Nick's eyes widen. "AJ, the girl who cheated on you, AJ? AJ, the girl you still love, AJ? AJ, the girl you want to get back together with, AJ? AJ, the girl–"

"Yes, okay?" Joe snaps at him. "It's that AJ."

"What did she want?" Nick wonders, unfazed by Joe's outburst.

"She wants to work things out," Joe replies, a smile slowly creeping onto his face. "She wanted to talk about getting back together. She was bummed when I told her I was in California with you but I told her that we'd talk again—in person—as soon as I got home."

"So...what? You're getting back together?"

Joe nods. "Nick," he says, and then pauses. Then he smiles more. "I think she's the right girl. The one I've been waiting for."

Nick smiles too. "Then I'm happy for you. And just think, I'll be an uncle!"

"Yeah," Joe says, "yeah, I guess you will be. And I'll be a father. Not biologically, obviously, but I'm going to raise that baby like it's my own."

"You're going to be a great dad," Nick tells him truthfully.

Joe smiles again. "Thank you," he says sincerely. He reaches into his pocket and hands Nick the keys to the rental car. "I'll set everything up, you go get Demi."

Nick nods, taking the keys from Joe. "Thank you!" he says, rushing passed Joe and grabbing his jacket, hurrying out the door and to the car.

"Happy Valentine's Day," Nick starts, holding a single red rose in his hand, the minute Demi opens the door. But the words get stuck in his throat as he takes in Demi's appearance. "Whoa," he murmurs.

Demi bites her lip and looks down. "Whoa?" she repeats. "Is that a good whoa?"

Nick nods but is still unable to say anything more than "Whoa."

Demi's face gets red and she takes a step back from him. "Stop staring at me like that," she pleads. When Nick doesn't, she snaps her fingers. "Nick!"

Nick blinks and finally focuses on her face. "What?" he asks. "Oh...oh, sorry. It's just...you looks so beautiful, Dem. I've never seen you look like this before. I mean, not that you don't always look beautiful. You just look...extra beautiful tonight."

"Thank you," Demi replies shyly, taking the rose Nick's holding out for her. "You look very handsome yourself."

"Thank you," Nick echoes, holding out his arm for her. "Shall we go, my lady?"

Demi giggles. "That was cheesy," she says, taking his arm, "but so cute."

"So where are we going?" Demi asks as Nick helps her into the car.

Nick gets in himself and starts the engine, pulling out of his spot. "You'll see," he says, flashing Demi a smile.

Demi smiles, too, until they get to the hotel. She sits up straight and tenses up.

"A hotel?" Demi glances at Nick, wary. "Why are we at a hotel?"

Nick turns off the car and looks at Demi. "My brother made us dinner," he says. "He set up a table and chairs and everything on the roof of the hotel." He frowns when he sees the look on her face. "Demi," he says quietly, reaching for her hand. But she pulls it out of his reach. "What's the matter?"

"My father..." She swallows hard, still staring out at the hotel. "When you—when you said my father pimped me out, you weren't wrong."

Nick's eyes widen once more. "What are you saying, Demi?"

Demi turns her head to look at him, her lip trembling. Nick knows she's about to start crying any minute but he also knows that touching her, trying to hold her, will be the wrong thing to do.

"He..." Again she stops, forcing her tears back. "He took—he took me to hotels, and I—I had to have—to have sex with the guys he brought there. You were right. He—he pimped me out and made me do things with—with guys, a _lot _of guys. He–"

Nick shakes his head, cutting her off. "Hey," he says. "You trust me, right?"

Demi bites her lip but nods. "Yes," she says, "I do."

"It's going to be okay. We won't even go in the room, okay? We'll just go straight up to the roof. It's going to be okay, I promise."

Demi takes a deep breath and nods again. Nick gets out of the car and opens the door for her, grabbing her hand and helping her out.

"So, you're brother made us dinner, huh?" Demi wonders as they walk into the hotel, trying to swallow down her nervousness. "How'd you rope him into doing that?"

"He actually offered," Nick replies as they walk to the elevator, pressing the button to go up. "I was just as surprised as you are now. But don't worry, my brother is a seriously _incredible_ cook. You'll love his food."

Demi smiles up at him. "I'm sure I will. Any food has to be better than the food they serve in rehab." She giggles softly, leaning into Nick. He slips an arm around her and she tenses up for a second before relaxing against him.

Nick kisses the top of her head and Demi smiles against his chest, bringing her arms around him, too.

"I'm having an amazing night," she murmurs quietly.

Nick chuckles. "We haven't even had dinner yet," he reminds her.

"No, I know, but it's been amazing," she replies, looking up at him and smiling. "Just being with you has been amazing."

"That was cheesy," Nick tells her, repeating what she told him earlier, "but so cute." Demi giggles as he leans down and kisses her nose. "But it's been an amazing night for me, too."

"It has?" Demi wonders as the elevator doors open.

Nick nods, pulling away from Demi for a second so they can go in. He presses the button for his floor and then puts his arms around her again.

"Yeah," he says, resting his chin on the top of her head. "I've never celebrated Valentine's Day before—and I'm guessing you never have, either." Demi shakes her head, laying her body against Nick's and closing her eyes. "I'm glad that we can both celebrate our first Valentine's Days...together."

Demi smiles against Nick's chest, too content to say anything.

"Hey, Dem, can I ask you something?" Nick asks suddenly.

"Mhm," Demi replies, her eyes still closed.

Nick bites his lip slightly, hesitating a second before finally asking, "Why do you trust me?"

Demi furrows her brow and looks up at him. Nick looks down at her, their faces just barely an inch apart.

"What do you mean?" she wonders confused. "What do you mean, why do I trust you?"

"Just that," Nick replies. "Why do you trust me? I mean, you told me yourself that you've spent your whole life trusting no one but yourself. But you trust me. Why?"

Demi sighs quietly and the shrugs. "I don't know," she answers truthfully. "I don't know why I trust you. I just do."

"But there has to be a reason–" Nick starts. Demi cuts him off.

"Yes, there is a reason," she tells him. "But I can't explain it. I mean, how do you explain that I feel like I've known you my whole life? Or that when I look into your eyes, I know that you'll never hurt me, even though I've spent the last seventeen years convincing myself that _everyone _will hurt me? I see a sweetness in you, Nick. A beautifulness."

"I don't think that's a word," Nick jokes. Demi rolls her eyes and starts to pull away from Nick but he tightens his arms around her so she can't. "I love that you know I'll never hurt you," he murmurs, his mouth by her ear. Demi shivers slightly. "And I love that you can see those things in me, because sometimes...sometimes I can't. So sometimes I'll need you to remind me about that. Can you do that?"

Demi nods, smiling up at him. "I can do that," she agrees. She looks up at him and bites her lip slightly before standing on her tip-toes and kissing him lightly on the lips.


	25. Chapter 25

Nick wraps his arms around Demi again, kissing her back a little bit harder. Demi brings her arms around Nick's neck, pressing her body against his and pinning him against the elevator wall. Nick parts his lips slightly but then pulls back when the elevator dings, indicating that they're on his floor.

Nick's breathing hard as he looks at Demi. "What...was that for?" he wonders.

Demi shrugs, looking hurt. "I have to have an excuse to want to make out with my boyfriend?"

"No, no," Nick's quick to assure her, "you don't. It's just...I never expected you to do that, that's all." He looks at her for a second longer before grabbing the elevator doors so they won't close. "Um, come on. My brother's waiting."

Demi nods and then stiffens up once they realize they're on Nick's floor and not the roof. "What are we doing here? I thought we were going to the roof." She glances at him. "Nick..."

"Chill, sweetie. The elevator won't take us up to the roof, so we have to get off here, since my room is on the top floor, and walk the rest of the way up. Okay?" He takes a step into the hallway and then holds his hand out for her. "Okay?" he asks again.

Demi bites her lip, looking from Nick's face to his hand to his face again. She hesitates for a second before nodding and reaching out, putting her hand in his. Nick smiles and pulls her to him, kissing her forehead.

"Thank you for trusting me," he whispers to her. Demi smiles against his chest. "Come on," he says, lacing their fingers together. "I bet you're starving."

He smiles at her for a second before leading her down the hallway and to a door that leads up to the roof. They go up the steps and Nick knocks on the door. Joe, dressed to the nines in a tuxedo, answers and smiles at the young couple.

"Ah, Mr. Johnson," he says with a slight bow. "Your table is ready. Right this way, please."

Demi leans into Nick and giggles softly as they follow Joe. "Your brother's funny," he says.

Nick chuckles. "Yeah," he agrees. "Yeah, he is."

Joe stops at a lone table sitting in the middle of the roof. He holds out a chair for Demi and motions for her to sit down. She smiles at him and does. Nick looks at his chair and then at Joe, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't look at me, dude. I'm not pulling out a chair for you. That was only for the lady." He smiles as Demi giggles again and Nick rolls his eyes, taking a seat himself. "Here are your menus," Joe continues, handing one to each of them.

Nick opens it and frowns up at Joe. "There's only one thing on here," he says.

"Ah, yes, that is the specialty of the day," Joe replies.

"What if I don't want the specialty of the day?"

"I'm sorry, sir, but that's all we have at the moment."

"What kind of restaurant is this?" Nick asks him.

"Dude, it's not actually a restaurant, you know that, right?" Joe wonders, and Demi giggles once more. Nick rolls his eyes and doesn't answer so Joe takes the menus back. "Two specialties of the day coming right up." He smiles at them and walks away.

"I like your brother," Demi says, looking at Nick, surprising herself.

Nick raises an eyebrow at her, surprised himself. "You like my brother?" he asks her.

Demi nods. "He's funny," she replies, "and he's so sweet to you. I think...I actually trust him, too."

Nick's eyes widen a little. "You do?" he asks, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Really?"

"It surprises me, too, but I actually do. He loves you, and you love me, and he's so protective over you, and it's adorable, and...I don't know. I just trust him."

Nick smiles at her. "I'm glad you do," he says. He reaches across the table for her hand and squeezes it. "Hey, so...I wrote you a song."

Demi tilts her head to the side and looks at him. "You wrote a song? For me?" Nick nods so Demi smiles too, squeezing his hand back. "I didn't know you wrote songs. Can I hear it?"

Nick bites his lip slightly. "I don't know..."

"Please?" she begs him. "That'd be the best Valentine's Day present ever. Please?"

Nick bites his lip again but then nods. "Okay. But only for you." He takes a deep breath before starting to sing.

"_Take my hand tonight__  
__We can run so far__  
__We could change the world__  
__Do anything we want__  
__We could stop for hours__  
__Just staring at the stars__  
__They shine down to show us..."_

Demi smiles at Nick, playing with his hand. He smiles back at her for a second.

"_You know when the sun forgets to shine__  
__I'll be there to hold you through the night__  
__We'll be running so fast we could fly tonight__  
__Even when we're miles and miles apart__  
__You're still holding all of my heart__  
__I promise it will never be dark__  
__I know we're inseparable..."_

A single tear falls from Demi's eyes. Nick closes his eyes as he continues the song.

"_We could run forever__  
__If you wanted to__  
__I would not get tired__  
__Because I'd be with you__  
__I'd keep singing this song__  
__Until the very end__  
__And we'd have done all these things..."_

Demi squeezes Nick's hand again. He opens his eyes and looks back at her, smiling again.

"_You know when the sun forgets to shine__  
__I'll be there to hold you through the night__  
__We'll be running so fast we could fly tonight__  
__Even when we're miles and miles apart__  
__You're still holding all of my heart__  
__I promise it will never be dark__  
__I know we're inseparable..."_  
Demi swallows the lump in her throat as more tears come to her eyes.

"_I will give it all  
Never let you fall  
But you know we're inseparable  
I would give it up  
Just to show you I'm in love  
Cause you know  
We're inseparable..."_

As soon as Nick finishes the chorus one final time, Demi gets up and goes over to him, hugging him tight.

"That was so amazing!" she says, sinking down onto his lap, an arm around his shoulders. "You really wrote that?"

Nick nods, an arm around her waist. "I did," he replies. "For you."

"It was beautiful. Thank you so much." She leans in and kisses him lightly.

Nick smiles and kisses her back a little bit harder. He pulls away from her when he hears Joe clear his throat.

"Oh...hey, bro," he says as Demi leans her head against his. "Dinner ready already?"

Joe nods. "Yep," he replies. "I mean..." He clears his throat again. "Dinner is served, sir and madam." He puts a plate in front of Nick and then one in front of Demi's chair. "Would you care for some wine?" He holds up a bottle and gestures to the glasses on the table.

"Wine?" Nick wonders, raising an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Don't worry, Mom doesn't know. And I'll watch you to make sure you don't go overboard."

"Oh, okay...good." He looks at Demi. "What do you say, sweetie? Do you want wine?"

Demi bites her lip but then nods. "Maybe just a little," she replies.

Nick nods and smiles up at Joe. "Just a little," he says. "Thank you."

Joe smiles back at him as he pours both of them a quarter glass of wine. "If you need anything, just text me. I'm going to be down in the room so I'm not in the way." He smiles at Nick again and then winks before turning around and walking to the door, opening it and leaving.

"Alone again," Nick says, looking at Demi. "Now where were we?"

Demi giggles and shakes her head. "Our food's gonna get cold," she tells him. "And I'm hungry."

"Okay, okay, but I'm expecting more kissing later." He smiles at her and raises his eyebrows, causing Demi to giggle again.

"Okay," she agrees, getting off of Nick's lap and walking to her own chair, sitting down. She picks up her fork and eats some of the food. Her eyes light up. "Oh, my God. When you said your brother was an incredible cook, you weren't kidding. This is amazing!"

"I know," Nick replies, eating some of his own food. "When my mom was at work and I was sick or something, he'd always make me food. I hated being sick but I loved it when he cooked for me."

Demi smiles at him, eating more of her food. "You guys were really close, huh?"

Nick nods. "Yeah, we were," he says. "The closest. He's only a year old than me so we did everything together. Then my mom and dad got a divorce and he went to live with my dad and I blamed him for their divorce. I thought it was his fault and I hated him because of it." He shakes his head. "But we're closer now than we were before and that's all that matters."

Demi smiles again. "You guys are cute together," she tells him. "And he's so protective of you. I love it."

Nick smiles back at her. "Thank you," he murmurs. "I love it too."

The rest of the night is amazing for both Nick and Demi. They talked and kissed and danced under the starlight until midnight. Now they're in Nick's car, heading back to rehab, Nick's hand resting on Demi's knee. It surprises Nick that she hasn't pushed it off yet.

"I had an amazing time," Demi says, laying her hand over Nick's. She yawns loudly and Nick laughs softly. "Thank you for an amazing night."

Nick glances at her and smiles. "You're welcome. I had an amazing night, too."

They get to the rehab center a little while later and Nick parks the car, turning to look at her.

"Well?" she says. "Are you gonna walk a lady to her door?"

Nick's eyes widen. "Oh!" he says. "Yeah! Of course!"

He gets out of the car and Demi laughs softly as he walks around to her side, opening the door for her, helping her out.

"Why, thank you," she murmurs as she brings an arm around his waist and leans into him.

Nick's smile can't be bigger as he slips an arm around her shoulders. They walk into the rehab center in comfortable silence.

"So...I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Nick wonders as they come to a stop outside of Demi's room.

Demi looks up at Nick and bites her lip. "Who said the night's over?"

Nick frowns a little. "It's after midnight. You're tired. I'm tired. The night's over."

Demi shakes her head, still biting her lip. "What if you and I did something to make us...not so tired?"

Nick's eyes widen a little. "Demi, are you saying what I think you're saying?"

She nods, opening the door. Then she brings her arms around Nick's neck, pressing her body close to his.

"Make love to me, Nick," she whispers, kissing his lips softly.

"Demi..." Nick starts.

Demi cuts him off with another kiss. "Make love to me," she says.

This time, it's Nick who bites his lip. He swallows a little but then nods. "Okay," he says a second before walking into the room with Demi and shutting the door behind them.


	26. Chapter 26

Nick pulls away from Demi a while later, looking down at her. "Are you sure you want this, Demi? Absolutely sure?"

"Nick." She takes Nick's face in her hands and smiles up at him. "I'm okay. I'm sure. I want this, I promise."

Nick nods and takes a deep breath before leaning down to kiss her again. Demi wraps her arms around Nick again and gratefully kisses him back. Nick slides his hands under the straps of Demi's dress, his fingertips grazing her bare skin. Demi shivers slightly from Nick's touch, moving her hands down his back slowly. Nick pulls away from her a second later to unzip her dress. He looks down at Demi for a second before kissing her once more.

"I love you," he murmurs in between their kissing, his hands moving down to the bottom of her dress.

Demi smiles as Nick pulls away from her once again. "I love you too." She grazes a finger along Nick's lips gently.

Nick smiles, too, and kisses her finger as he slips his hands under Demi's dress, starting to pull her underwear down. Demi's breath catches in her throat as he does that but Nick doesn't notice. He starts to slip the straps of her dress down her shoulders.

That's when Demi's eyes go wide. She tries to move away from Nick. She hits his chest, kicks her legs, starts to cry.

"Get off me!" she screams. "Go away!"

Nick frowns in confusion. He tries to take Demi's face in his hands. "Demi," he says soothingly. "Demi, it's me, Nick. It's me–"

"Go away!" she says again, starting to cry harder.

"Demi!" Nick tries again. "It's me! Demi, baby–"

Nick knows immediately that that's the wrong thing to say. Demi's eyes widen again and she slaps Nick—hard—across the face.

"Get off me!" she cries, pushing on Nick's chest. When Nick immediately does, she curls up into a ball, sobbing into her pillow.

"Demi–" Nick starts but then he bites his lip and backs up toward the door. "I'm sorry," he whispers.

When Demi doesn't answer, he swallows the lump in his throat and makes his way to the door. He slides down to the floor in the hallway. He closes his eyes and takes his phone out of his pocket, dialing the all too familiar number.

"Hello?" Joe asks groggily, answering after the first few rings.

"Joe?" Nick asks, his voice full of sadness.

Joe sits up in bed, wide awake now. "Nick," he says. "What's the matter, buddy? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Can you—can you pick me up?" Nick wonders, leaning his head back on the wall. "Please?"

"Of course," Joe says immediately. He's already out of bed and getting dressed. "I'll be there in twenty minutes, okay? Sit tight, bro."

Nick nods his head, even though Joe can't see him. "Thank you," he says quietly, hanging up the phone.

Joe gets there exactly twenty minutes later and finds Nick sitting on a bench outside of the center. He stops his car and hurries over to his little brother.

"Nick!" he exclaims. When Nick looks up at him, Joe sucks in his breath. "Oh, man." He sits down next to him. "What happened, buddy?"

Nick looks over at him. "I made a bad decision," he says quietly.

"What 'bad decision' did you make?" Joe wonders, tilting his head to the side.

"We almost had sex."

Nick's voice is so low that Joe has to strain to hear it. But when he does, his eyes widen. "Nick, what do you mean you almost had sex?"

"Just that." Nick shrugs a little, looking away from Joe's face. "We almost had sex."

"Okay." Joe holds up a hand. "Back up and start from the beginning."

"Okay." Nick takes a deep breath. "I picked Demi up for our date–"

"Okay, not that beginning. Tell me what happened when you brought her back here _after _your date."

"Oh." Nick looks at him again. "We got back here, and I walked her to her room, and I said that I'd see her tomorrow, and she said, 'What if the night's not over yet?' So I told her that we're both tired, that the night was over. And then she goes, 'What if you and I did something to make us...not so tired?' And then I said, 'Demi, are you saying what I think you're saying?' And then she nodded and wrapped her arms around me, pressing her body into mine. And then she said, 'Make love to me, Nick.'"

Joe's eyes widen once more. "Whoa," he says softly. "What did you do?"

"I said 'Demi...' but then she kissed me and said, 'Make love to me,' so I said okay and we went into her room," Nick finishes, looking down at his hands.

"Okay," Joe says, nodding. "Then what happened?"

"We—we started kissing. I asked—I asked her if she was sure, and she said she was. So—so then I started to pull her—her underwear down." He glances at Joe for a second, his cheeks flushing. "Then I started to slide her straps down her shoulders, and that's when she started freaking out. She pushed on my chest, started crying and kicking and hitting me. I made the mistake of calling her 'baby,' and she slapped me across the face." Joe nods again, noticing the bright red mark on Nick's cheek for the first time. "So I got off her and she curled into a ball and started to cry. I—I told her that I was sorry, and—and then I left the room. And then I called you."

"Oh, man," Joe says again. He touches Nick's shoulder, and he looks at him again. "You have to make this okay. She's your girlfriend. You can't just leave here tonight without making things okay."

"But she's probably scared of me now," Nick says sadly. "How am I supposed to make _this _okay?"

"Just go in there. Maybe don't hold her, but just let her know that you're still here for her. How will it look if the one person she _expects _to be there is the one person who _isn't_?"

Nick nods. "That's true. Thank you, Joe," he says sincerely.

Joe smiles at him. "Hey, what are brothers—and best friends—for, huh?"

Nick smiles right back at him. "Yeah," he says.

"Now, go. I'll wait out here but text me if you're staying the night, okay?"

Nick nods again. "Okay," he says, standing up. "Thank you," he says again before walking back into the building.

Joe watches after him until he feels his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulls it out and smiles at the text he just received.

_**I really miss you. See you soon! xx AJ**_

Joe smiles more and quickly replies.

_**I miss you more.**_

AJ's answer is instantaneous.

_**Not possible.**_

* * *

"Dem?" Nick wonders, knocking softly on her door. He hesitates a moment before opening the door. He sees Demi still curled up on her bed, so he takes a few slow, cautious steps inside the room. "Demi?" he says again.

Demi picks her head up and looks at him, her eyes widening. But then Nick turns on the light and she visibly relaxes when she sees his face.

"Hi," she says quietly.

"I'm so sorry," he starts but Demi shakes her head, cutting him off.

"Don't be," she replies, sitting up. She holds out a hand for him and, after a second, Nick walks over to her, taking her hand and sitting down on the bed. "I wanted it. I thought I was okay. I thought I would _be _okay." She looks over at Nick. "I _want _to be okay."

"I know you do, sweetie," he says quietly. He starts to put his arm around her but then thinks better of it. "You will be okay, Demi, I know it. It's only been a month, honey. It's going to take time—a lot of time—but you'll be okay. And, look..." He pauses for a second. "If you're never ready to...take that step and make love, then we won't. Okay?"

Demi looks at him again. "You'd be okay with that?" she wonders quietly.

Nick nods. "I mean, yeah, I'd _want _to have sex with you—I am a guy after all." He smiles jokingly and Demi giggles slightly. "But if you don't want to, if you're not ready, then we won't. I love you so much. You're the single best thing that's ever happened to me. It's okay if you're never ready to have sex. It's okay."

Demi smiles at him, slipping an arm around his waist, laying her head on his shoulder. "You're so amazing," she whispers to him. "Thank you for making me feel better, too."

Nick smiles and kisses her head. "You're welcome," he says just as quietly, kissing her head.

* * *

_**Next chapter will most likely end on a major cliffhanger that none of you will like. I can't wait to write that! ;)**_


	27. Chapter 27

Demi looks up at him after a few minutes. "When do you leave to go back home?" she wonders.

"In a few days," he answers with a sigh. "I don't want to leave, though."

"I don't want you to leave, either," she tells him, snuggling into his side more.

Nick kisses her head again. "It'll be okay," he replies. "We'll talk every day, okay? Every single day, no matter what. We'll even video chat sometimes, just so I can see your face."

Demi smiles up at him. "I'd really like that, Nick."

Nick smiles back and kisses her softly before laying back on the bed, a hand on her back. He brings his other hand up and brushes a finger against her lips softly.

"You're so beautiful," he murmurs quietly, gazing up at her.

Demi blushes and shakes her head. "No, I'm not," he tells him forcefully.

Nick frowns a little and sits up, looking at her. He takes her face in his hands and forces her to look at him, too.

"Demi," he says gently. "You're not still listening to what I know your father used to tell you, are you?" He sighs softly. "Demi, forget about what he said! You're the most beautiful girl I've ever known. He's a bastard, and he didn't know what he was talking about."

Demi looks away from Nick, pushing his hand away. "It's not just him," she says quietly.

Nick frowns again. "Then...who...?" he starts.

"It's...everyone," she answers after a second. She looks back at Nick. "Everyone my whole entire life always said that I was ugly and worthless and—and everything hateful they could think of. It used to hurt at first, but now I've just...I've just become numb."

"Oh, Demi," he says quietly.

Demi looks away from him once more. "I know that you think I'm beautiful and everything but I'm not, Nick. I'm not beautiful."

"Yes, you are, Demi!" Nick says, getting frustrated with her. "Every single thing about you is absolutely beautiful."

Demi shakes her head vigorously. She shoves her arms at him, pulling her sleeves up, revealing the scars and bruises and burns covering almost every inch of her skin. "How can you think _these _are beautiful?" she asks him. Nick looks at her arms, unable to tear his eyes away. "They _aren't_," she tells him. "You know they aren't. But they're a part of me, so if they're not beautiful...neither am I."

Demi gets off the bed and wraps her arms around herself, her back to Nick. Nick looks at her for a second before getting up and walking over to her. He stands in front of her, putting his hands on either side of her face. Demi looks up into his big, brown, kind eyes.

"I want you to listen to me, okay?" he says. Demi simply nods, so Nick goes on. "You are the most beautiful girl I have ever known. You're so kind and generous and sweet and everything in between, and I love _every little piece of you_. I love your scars just as much as I love your smile. I don't get to see it very often, but when I do...damn, it really lights up my life." Demi smiles slightly at that. "You are the single greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Because of you...I have my big brother back. You make me so happy, Demi, and you _are _beautiful. But not just for what's on the surface, though that's definitely not hard to look at. You are beautiful because of what's in _here_, Demi." He smiles at her as he puts his hand on her heart. "I don't want you to _ever _doubt yourself, or your beauty, again, okay? Because fuck what everyone else thinks. _You are beautiful_."

Demi looks up at him again, her eyes filling with tears. She wraps her arms around Nick and holds him tightly. Nick smile and holds her, too.

"I love you, Nick," she says against his chest.

Nick buries his face in her hair. "I love you, too," he tells her, closing his eyes. "I love you, too."

* * *

"Do you really have to leave?" Demi wonders, looking up at Nick, a week later.

Nick sighs, planting a kiss on her forehead. "I'm sorry, honey," he tells her. "You know I want nothing more than to stay here with you, but I need to go back home. But I will call you _as soon _as I land, okay?"

Demi nods slightly, her lower lip quivering. "You promise?"

"I promise," Nick replies, kissing her forehead again. He smiles slightly and wipes away a tear that slowly makes its way down her cheek. "Now, come on. Don't cry, okay? It's going to all be okay, sweetie."

"I'm going to miss you," she says, starting to cry, burying her face into Nick's chest and holding him tight.

Nick sighs once more and drops the bag he's holding. He wraps his arms around her, not waning to let her go.

"I'm going to miss you, too, honey," he says quietly. "But we'll talk every day, right? And we'll video chat and everything. And before we know it, you'll be okay, and then–"

"And then what, Nick?" Demi wonders, cutting him off, wiping her tears on Nick's shirt. "I'm still only seventeen, Nick. I don't turn eighteen until August. After I'm okay and I can leave here, they'll send me to a foster home and I'll still be away from you."

"Just until August, Demi!" Nick says, pulling back from her slightly to look down at her. "Only until August. Then—then we can get an apartment together!"

Demi's eyes widen. "An—an apartment? You—you want to move in together?"

Nick immediately nods. "Yeah, Demi," he breathes, "yeah, I do. But only if you want to, too."

"I want to," Demi replies, hugging Nick tight again. She smiles against his chest. "I definitely want to."

Nick smiles. "Good." He holds Demi tighter for a little bit longer before sighing and pulling away from her once more. "I really have to go now, Demi, or I'm going to miss my flight."

"Okay," Demi says sadly, stepping back from him. She picks up his bag and hands it to him. "I love you, Nick."

Nick steps closer to her and leans down, kissing her softly, yet passionately, on the lips. He pulls away from her a few seconds later and smiles down at her.

"I love you, too," he replies.

He brushes a finger against her cheek before turning around and walking out of the room.

* * *

"Hey, bro. About time," Joe says as soon as Nick gets into the rental car. He glances at Nick and sighs quietly. "Are you okay?"

Nick shakes his head, laying his head against the window. "No," he says softly.

"I'm sorry, buddy," Joe says sincerely, reaching over to put his hand on Nick's shoulder. "I know this has to be hard for you, but Demi's going to be okay. And you're going to be okay, too."

"I don't think so," he mumbles miserably.

Joe sighs, squeezing Nick's shoulder before pulling his hand back and starting the car.

"I know it doesn't feel like it right now," he tells his little brother, "but it will be okay. I promise you."

Nick looks over at Joe finally. "You can't promise me something like that," he says quietly.

Joe sighs again. "You're right," he replies. "I can't. But I know you, and I know Demi, and I can see how in love you two are. So I know it'll be okay. I just _know _it."

"Yeah," Nick says, looking out the window as Joe drives to the airport. "I really hope so."

* * *

**_Sorry it's super short! This story should be over soon-and something's going to happen next chapter that none of you are going to like. Next chapter will most likely be a lot longer, though. I'm going to start working on it right now but until then-please read, enjoy, and comment!_**


	28. Chapter 28

"You're going back to school, Nicholas," Nick's mom says the day after he and Joe get back from California.

Nick frowns at her. "What? No–"

"_Yes_," his mom says, cutting him off. "You've missed too much school as it is. You cannot miss anymore."

"But—but...you can, like...home school me, or something." Nick stops and looks at his mom, nearly pleading with her. "Please?"

But his mom shakes her head, much to Nick's dismay. "You know I can't do that, honey. I'm barely home as it is. And I can't just _stop _working. We need the money, Nicholas."

"Please don't make me go back there!" Nick cries. Then he looks at Joe. "Help me out here, man!"

Joe shakes his head, running his hand through his hair, as he watches them. "Sorry, bro," he says sympathetically. "But she's right. She can't quit her job, and you need to go back to school." He gets up from where he's sitting, walking over to his little brother, putting a hand comfortingly on his shoulder. "Don't worry, okay?" he tells him. "I will be _right _there with you. If you need anything, if anyone gives you a hard time, if Taylor even _looks _at you the wrong way, you call me, and I will be there. All right? I promise."

Nick looks down for a second before looking back at his big brother. "I'm scared," he admits, fear clear in his voice.

Joe sighs softly, pulling Nick into a hug. He rests his head against Nick's, rubbing his back in slow circles. "I know you are, buddy," he whispers quietly. "I know you're scared, and—and it's okay to be scared. But no one is going to touch you ever again while I'm around. I'll kick their asses before they even get the chance."

"Language, Joseph," their mother warns.

Joe sighs again but flashes her a smile, not entirely apologetic, before pulling away from Nick and looking straight into his eyes.

"You trust me, right?" he asks. "You trust me to protect you?"

Nick nods almost instantly. "I trust you," he answers without hesitant.

Joe smiles at that, keeping his hands on his shoulders. "Good. Now, come on. Let's go get food, or something. Blow off some steam. Because you go back to school tomorrow."

Nick sighs heavily but nods his head after a few minutes. "Okay," he finally says.

Joe smiles once more. "That's my boy." He ruffles Nick's hair and laughs when Nick rolls his eyes, trying to get away from his brother.

* * *

"You ready for this, bud?" Joe asks the next day as he pulls into a spot in the school's parking lot.

Nick swallows and then takes a deep breath. He shakes his head. "No," he says.

Joe gives him an encouraging smile. "You'll be fine. My phone will be on all day, so if you need me for anything—and I do mean _anything—_don't hesitate to call me, okay?"

Nick looks over at Joe, biting his lip slightly. Then he nods ever-so-slightly. "Okay," he says quietly.

Joe turns off the car and grabs his backpack from the backseat. He pushes open the door and gets out of his Mustang. He turns around to wait for Nick to get out, too, and then he locks the car. He walks over to Nick, slinging an arm around his shoulders, as Nick shifts his backpack to his other shoulder. Nick looks up at his big brother.

"I wish we were in the same classes," he says with a sigh, stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets, "and not just lunch."

"Tell me the word, man, and I can switch all of my classes to yours."

Nick looks up at Joe once more, his eyes lighting up, but then his face crumples and he shakes his head.

"You can't do that," he insists. "You already got left back once—you can't get left back again. I'll be—I'll be okay."

Joe cocks his head to the side, trying to gauge if Nick was telling the truth or not. In the end, he just sighs, his arm still slung over his baby brother's shoulders.

"I'll be okay," Nick says again, more forcefully this time. "Don't worry about me, okay? You've missed a lot of school, too, so you need to focus on that and not me."

"Telling me not to worry about you doesn't mean that I actually _won't _worry about you," Joe retorted, finally letting his arm drop from Nick's shoulders.

"I know," Nick sighs, "but at least _try_ not to, okay? It's only a few hours, and then I'll see you at lunch, and then it's another few hours, and then I'm home. I'll be okay." He tries to smile, but Joe can tell that it's just for his benefit, not Nick's own.

"Okay," Joe says reluctantly. "If you say so."

They walk into the school together and then Joe turns to Nick, hesitating. He opens his mouth to say something but Nick beats him to it.

"Go," he says. "The bell's about to ring, and if we don't head to our classes, we're both going to be late." He can tell that Joe's still reluctant to leave him alone so he tries to smile again. "See you at lunch?"

Joe nods slowly. "Yeah," he agrees. "See you at lunch." He hesitates again before sighing and walking away in a huff.

Nick watches his brother leave. Once he's out of sight, the fake smile falls off of Nick's face and he swallows down his fear. He doesn't have any friends. Taylor wants to severely hurt him for getting Zac sent to jail. He's definitely _not _looking forward to school today at all. He had needed to make Joe think that he was okay so that he wouldn't worry about him. But the hard truth of the matter is that Nick _i__sn't _okay. Not at all.

He walks slowly to his classroom and opens the door just as the final bell rings. He takes one more deep breath before walking into the room. He stops short as he's met with stares from everyone, including the teacher and minus Taylor. He's glaring at Nick, his hands balled into fists on top of his desk.

"Nick," the teacher finally says. "Welcome back." She offers him a smile but it turns out more like a grimace.

"Thanks," Nick mumbles as he makes his way over to his desk, sliding into his chair. He drops his backpack down onto the floor and stares straight ahead, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"Hi, Nick."

Nick jumps slightly and turns his head, his eyes widening slightly in surprise. "AJ," he says. "I totally forgot you were in this class."

"Yeah, I bet," AJ says. "Last time I saw you here, you acted like you were the greatest thing ever. You and Zac and Taylor. I'm surprised you noticed I was in this class at all."

Nick sighs. "AJ–" he starts.

But AJ shakes her head, cutting him off. "It's okay," she assures him. "Joe told me what happened, that you've changed. And I'm glad. The Nick he talked to me about...I like him a hell of a lot better than the Nick I used to know."

Nick smiles, a real, genuine smile. "Joe talks about me?" he wonders.

AJ nods. "All the time," she tells him. "You're seriously the one thing I can't get him to stop talking about." She giggles a little, and Nick smiles again. "He loves you."

"He love _you_," Nick corrects her.

AJ smiles that time, a hand on her tiny baby bump. "He does?"

"Yes," Nick replies. "He loves you so much, and he loves that baby, too—even if it's not here yet. He's really excited to be a dad—even if the baby isn't technically his. And I'm excited to be an uncle." He smiles more.

Just then, the teacher clears her throat. Loudly. Nick immediately faces forward with one last smile at AJ. He casts one glance at Taylor and swallows hard when he sees him still glaring in his direction. He settles back in his seat and tries to focus on what the teacher is saying.

* * *

"Hey, Nick," AJ says, catching up to him after first period ends.

"Oh, hey. You going this way, too?"

AJ nods her head, struggling with the books in her arms. "I have the next class with you, too, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," Nick says softly. "I forgot that you're a junior, not a senior like Joe."

"Not surprising," she murmurs quietly, and struggles with her books again.

Nick notices and reaches over, taking the books from AJ's arms. "Let me," he says, and she smiles gratefully at him.

"So how's your girlfriend doing?" AJ wonders after a few seconds, looking over at Nick.

He stops walking and turns to look at her. "What do people think happened to her?" he wonders curiously.

AJ shrugs a little, a sheepish look on her face. "Not much, really. She wasn't exactly popular, so I don't think many people care. I just know because Joe told me. That's why you were in California, right? To see her?"

Nick nods. "Yeah. She's okay. Getting better every day."

"You really miss her?"

Nick nods again. "Yeah, I do. But she's working on getting better so she can come back home, so we can see each other a lot more. We're going to get an apartment together after she turns eighteen."

AJ raises an eyebrow. "Whoa, really?"

"Yeah," Nick replies. "She's really excited about it. I–" He's cut off by the bell ringing, and his eyes widen. "Oh, shit. We gotta go, or we're gonna be late."

AJ quickly nods and they hurry to second period.

"Nick!" Joe cries, hurrying over to where his brother sat in the lunch room. "Nick!"

Nick looks up at Joe and frowns a little. "What's wrong?" he wonders, instantly alert.

"Did you hear?!" Joe says, plopping down across from Nick. He's breathing heavy, having just sprinted there from his last class. Nick looks at his brother, waiting for him to go on. "Zac's out of jail!"


	29. Chapter 29

Nick's eyes widen and he quickly shakes his head, sure he heard Joe wrong. "No," he says forcefully. "No, no, no."

"Nick!" Joe snaps his fingers in front of his brother's face to get him to look at him. "Listen to me, man. The police officer who had originally arrested Zac just called me. Zac is out of jail, Nicholas."

Nick's heart skips a beat and his eyes widen even more, if possible. "But how could they let him out?" he cries, fear gripping his heart. "He raped Demi! How the hell could they let him out?"

Nick's near hysterics, so Joe hurries over next to him, putting a hand on his back. "They had to," he says quietly, soothingly. "There was no evidence, and Demi wouldn't testify. They had to let him out."

"Is he coming back to school?" Nick wonders, turning to Joe, his voice low and afraid.

Joe sighs, rubbing Nick's back slowly. "I don't know," he replies truthfully. "I hope he's not, though."

"I have to—I have to call Demi," Nick says after a minute, fumbling for the phone in his pocket. "She needs to know."

"Nick." Joe closes his hand over Nick's before he's able to press any buttons. "She's in California. She's _safe_. The only people who know where she is, is you, me, AJ, Mom, the cops, and her social worker, Madison. Don't call her, because you're only going to worry her for no reason."

Nick bites his lip but then nods, dropping his phone onto the table. "But what about me?" he whispers.

Joe furrows his brow, confused. "What about you, what?"

"Zac knows where I live, Joe," he answers, still obviously terrified. "_I'm _the one who got him arrested. What if—what if he finds me and comes after me for what I did?"

"Hey." Joe grabs Nick's chin, forcing him to look into his eyes. "I will not let him hurt you, okay? I am going to protect you. Even if I have to die trying."

Nick's eyes grow wide once more. "Don't say that!" he pleads with him. "You can't die–"

Joe pulls him close. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He rests his head on Nick's. "I'm not going to die. I'm going to be right here with you, for you, forever."

Nick buries his face into Joe's neck, gripping onto his big brother tightly. "Promise?" he whispers.

"Yeah, buddy," Joe says quietly. "Yeah, I promise."

* * *

"Hey, Nick," AJ says at the end of the school day, stopping at Nick's locker. "Joe told me about Zac. Are you okay?"

Nick looks at her for a moment before putting his books into his open locker. AJ sighs.

"Yeah, stupid question. Of course you're not okay." She pauses for a second. "I have a doctor's appointment right now—Joe's taking me. Do you want to come, too?"

Nick looks at AJ once more and immediately nods. His mom is working, so she won't be there when Nick gets home. He'd have the whole house to himself, and that thought terrifies him. He wants to be—needs to be—as close to his brother as possible.

"Yes," he answers now, shutting his locker, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. "Is Joe outside in the car already?"

AJ nods and then her face lights up. "Oh!" she exclaims. "The baby's kicking, do you wanna feel?"

Nick bites his lip slightly but then AJ grabs his hand and places it on her stomach. Nick's face lights up, too.

"Oh, wow," he murmurs. "That's so weird. You have a little person growing inside you."

AJ giggles. "I know," she says. "Joe hasn't felt it kick, so don't tell him you did, okay?"

Nick nods. "Okay," he agrees. They fall into step together and start walking towards the doors. "AJ, can I ask you something?" he wonders after a few minutes.

"Sure, Nick," AJ says, looking up at him for a second.

Nick takes a deep breath and stops walking, pulling on AJ's arm to get her to stop walking, too. AJ looks up at Nick again.

"Joe thinks you were raped," he says after hesitating for a second. "At that party, where you allegedly cheated on him. He thinks you were raped."

AJ's face grows pale and she looks down at the ground, not answering Nick and not meeting his eyes.

Nick puts a hand on AJ's shoulder. "He's right, isn't he?" he asks gently, his voice velvety soft.

AJ nods after a second. Her shoulders start shaking and it's clear to Nick that she's crying. He doesn't hesitate; he simple pulls AJ into him, rubbing her back in slow, soothing circles.

"I don't—I don't remember much of that night," AJ says against Nick's shoulder. "I was—I was drinking, but—but not enough to get wasted. The only thing—the only thing I remember is telling...him...to stop, and him just laughing at me." She buries her face in Nick's T-shirt, starting to sob.

Nick sighs and holds AJ tighter, not saying anything. He looks up and his eyes widen when he sees Joe standing there, watching them.

"Joe," he says. "It's not what it looks like," he tells him.

Joe ignores him and walks over to them, putting a hand on AJ's back. "What's wrong, babe?" he wonders, not even giving Nick a second glance.

At Joe's touch, AJ immediately releases her grip on Nick to grab onto her boyfriend, still sobbing hard. Joe finally looks up at Nick.

"What happened?" he asks.

Nick sighs. "I said that you thought she was raped," he replies. "I didn't mean to make her this upset, I just wanted to know. She was, by the way. Raped."

"Oh, AJ," Joe whispers quietly as his girlfriend continues to cry. "Come on, baby," he says after a minute, pulling away from her slightly. "We gotta get going or we're gonna be late for your doctor's appointment."

AJ sniffs and wipes at her eyes. "Okay," she agrees softly.

Joe slips an arm around AJ and starts to walk out of the school with her. But then he stops and looks back at Nick.

"You coming?" he wonders, and Nick nods and quickly hurries over to the couple, walking out to Joe's car with them.

* * *

"You okay, man?" Joe asks his brother later that night.

Nick looks over at Joe and smiles a little. "I'm fine. I just think I'm going to go for a walk, okay? I need to clear my head."

Joe jumps to his feet the minute Nick stands up. "Does that seem like a good idea, Nick? Zac is out there. Let me come with you."

Nick shakes his head. "No. Stay here with AJ." He nods to her sleeping figure. "I'll be okay." He gives Joe a smile but it doesn't quite make it to his eyes.

"Nick–" Joe starts, taking a step toward his little brother.

Nick shakes his head again, holding up a hand to stop him. "If I'm not back in an hour, _then _you can worry about me, okay?" He sighs when he notices that Joe doesn't seem convinced. "Look, man, I can't let Zac ruin my life. I can't live in fear. That's no way _to _live. And...besides, I'll have to face him someday, won't I? I need to face him, to confront him. Better it be on my terms than on his."

Joe's eyes widen. "Nick, you're not saying...?" He stops. "Are you actually _seeking _him out?!"

"Yes," Nick answers.

"Nick!" Joe cries, and then lowers his voice when AJ starts to stir. "You can't do that! I'm coming with you!"

"No, you're not." He nods to AJ again. "You just found out that your girlfriend was raped. You can't leave her now. What if she wakes up, and you're not here, and she gets scared? I've been through that with Demi. She needed me, and now AJ needs you. I'll be fine."

"You promise?" Joe wonders.

Nick smiles a little. "Yeah, Joe," he lies. "Yeah, I promise." Then he turns around and walks out the door.

Joe bites his lip, debating about going after Nick, but then he sighs and walks back over to AJ, sitting down next to her. He runs his hands through AJ's hair slowly, worrying about his little brother the whole time.

* * *

Nick wraps his arms around himself as he makes his way to Zac's house, scared and angry at the same time. He takes a deep breath when he comes to a stop in front of Zac's door, knocking on it hard.

Zac opens it a few minutes later and sneers at Nick. "Well, look what the cat dragged in. Just the asshole I wanted to see."

Nick's hands form fists. "_I'm _an asshole?! You're the one who raped Demi, and _I'm _the asshole?!"

"I didn't rape that slut," Zac says nastily, and then smirks. "If you haven't heard, that bitch _wanted_ it."

"No, she didn't!" Nick cries, raising his fist and punching Zac in the face. "She didn't _want_ it! She begged you to stop and you _didn't_!" He punches Zac in the face again, getting angrier. "You raped her and made her hurt herself and you don't even fucking care!" He punches him in the face once more.

Zac glares at Nick, his nose and lip bleeding. He turns around and hurries into the kitchen, Nick staring after him in confusion. But before Nick has time to do anything, Zac comes back, a kitchen knife in his hand. Nick doesn't have time to react before Zac plunges the knife into Nick's abdomen and twists it. Nick cries out in pain, a second before the world fades around him and he mercifully passes out, lying in a pool of his own blood.

* * *

_**Sorry that I haven't uploaded anything in a whole month! I've had major writer's block, so I hope this chapter is okay. There's only one more chapter and then this story is over. But there will be a sequel, since you're definitely not going to like how this story ends.**_


	30. THE LAST ONE

AJ wakes up later that night to find Joe pacing back and forth. She frowns a little and sits up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Joe?" she wonders. "What's wrong?"

Joe doesn't acknowledge her question. He just continues to pace. AJ frowns in worry and gets up, walking over to him, standing in front of him.

"Babe!" she says, grabbing him to get him to stop pacing.

Joe blinks and focuses on AJ's face, his own face white as a ghost.

"What's wrong?" AJ asks once more, concern evident in her eyes and in her voice.

"I think Nick's in trouble," Joe says, his voice barely above a whisper.

AJ frowns again. "Why do you think that?" she wonders.

"Because he went looking for Zac," Joe replies.

AJ's eyes widen. "_What_?!" she practically yells. "Why would he do that?"

Joe sighs and runs a hand over his face, telling AJ everything Nick told him. "He's been gone for so long, and I'm getting so worried."

"Let's go look for him," AJ suggests, already reaching for her jacket.

But Joe stops her. "No," he says. "_I'll _go look for him." AJ opens her mouth to say something but Joe shakes his head, cutting her off. "You're pregnant, AJ, and Zac is a mean guy. I don't want anything to happen to you, or to that baby." He reaches out and puts a hand on AJ's baby bump. "Okay?"

AJ starts to protest but then she sighs and nods. "Okay," she reluctantly agrees. "But be careful, okay? I love you, and I _cannot _lose you. This baby needs a daddy."

Joe pulls AJ into a hug, resting his head against hers. "I'll be okay. I'm going to be right here for you, and for this little baby."

AJ pulls away from him slightly and looks up at him, into his eyes. "You promise?" she whispers.

Joe nods and kisses her forehead gently. "I promise," he replies.

AJ smiles a little but then pushes Joe away from her. "Go find Nick," she tells him. "I'm sure he needs you a lot right now, and you need to be there for him."

Joe nods and gives her a quick kiss before grabbing his cell phone and keys off the coffee table. He hurries out of the house and to his car.

"Please be okay," he says quietly as he starts his car and pulls away from the house.

* * *

Zac looks down at Nick and laughs when he hears him gasping for breath. He crouches down next to him, careful not to step in his blood.

"Finally getting what you deserve, huh, Nick?" he snarls. He laughs again when Nick's breathing becomes even shallower. He realizes he still has the knife in his hand and his face pales for a second. "Gotta get rid of this thing." He stands back up and starts to walk out of the house when he notices a familiar car driving down the street. "Oh, shit."

He hurries back inside, shutting the door behind him. He looks down at Nick's lifeless body and curses under his breath. He doesn't have time to figure out what to do before there's a knock at the door.

"Zac!" Joe yells, banging on the door again. "I know you're in there! And I know my brother came to see you!" When Zac doesn't answer, Joe clenches his fists. "I will knock this fucking door down, I swear to God. And if you even so much as touched a curl on his head, I'll kill you!"

Zac gulps, knowing Joe is deadly serious. He looks down at Nick again and then drops the knife, hurrying through the house to the back door. Joe hears that and clenches his jaw. He takes a step away from the door and then charges it, hitting it with his shoulder. It breaks open and Joe catches himself before he can fall down. He takes a step into the house and then stops, nearly dropping to his knees when he sees his little brother.

"Nick," he says, dropping down next to him. He turns him over and chokes back a sob when he can't hear his breathing or feel his heartbeat. "No, no, no!" he cries, holding Nick close to him, not caring that he's getting his clothes dirty with Nick's blood. "Wake up," he begs his baby brother. "Nicholas, please wake up."

It finally dawns on him to call the police so he gets his phone out and does just that, explaining in a tearful voice to the person who answers what happened. He hangs up as soon as he's done giving Zac's address, holding Nick tighter, wishing he'd wake up and be okay.

* * *

"Nick?" Demi says later that day, picking up the phone on the first ring. "Is that you?! I've been trying to call you all day!"

"Demi," Joe says in a small voice.

Demi pulls the phone away from her ear and frowns at it for a second. "Joe?" she wonders.

"Yeah, Dem, it's me."

Demi frowns again. "Why are you calling? Where's Nick? I really wanted to talk to him. I really miss–"

"Demi," Joe says once more, cutting her off. She instantly grows quiet, hearing the hurt in his voice. "Nick..." He stops talking, taking a deep breath so he won't cry. Again. "He's hurt real bad, Demi."

Demi's heart nearly stops. "What?" she whispers. "How?"

"It was Zac," Joe tells her. "Nick went to his house to confront him, and he—he stabbed him. Punctured his lung. H-he wasn't breathing when I found him." He closes his eyes and inhales shakily, starting to cry again.

AJ, who's sitting next to him, slips an arm around him and kisses his head. Joe leans into her, trying to get his sobs under control.

"Is—is he breathing now?" Demi wonders, barely able to get the words out. "Is he okay? Please tell me he's okay!"

"I'm—I'm sorry, Demi," Joe chokes out, "but he's not." He squeezes his eyes shut, his cries finally subsiding. "He's—he's breathing, but—but not on his own."

"What does that even mean?!"

Joe opens his mouth to say something but then starts to cry again. AJ squeezes his shoulder and takes the phone from him.

"Demi? It's AJ...Joe's girlfriend?" She takes a shaky breath. "Nick is hooked up to a ventilator. He's breathing, but that machine is doing the breathing for him." A few tears roll down her cheek. "The doctors aren't hopeful, sweetie."

Joe starts to cry harder when AJ says that, burying his face into his hands. Demi's own eyes fill with tears.

"No!" she cries. "Please tell me this is some sick joke. Please, AJ! Nick can't die! I can't lose him! Please!"

"I'm sorry, Demi. I wish I could tell you that this is all some misunderstanding, or that it's just a joke, but I can't. He's hurt, and the doctors can't do anything more for him, and they don't think he'll even survive the week."

"No!" Demi cries again, shutting her phone and throwing it against the wall.

"Demi–" AJ tries but then sighs when all she hears is the dial tone. She puts the phone down on the table and leans her head on Joe's shoulder, slipping an arm around him again. "He'll be okay, baby," she says quietly, rubbing Joe's back in slow circles. "He'll be okay."

Joe turns to her and wraps his arms around her tightly, burying his face into her neck, starting to sob hard.

AJ sighs a little, starting to cry herself. "He'll be okay," she repeats, more to herself than to Joe. "He has to be okay."

* * *

"Nick!" Demi says late the next day, racing into Nick's hospital room and right over to his bed. "Oh, my God, Nick."

Joe looks up from Nick's face and his eyes widen. "Demi?" he says quietly.

Demi doesn't look at Joe as she answers. "I called Madison after I got done talking to AJ. She didn't want to but I made her book the next flight back here. Unfortunately, it wasn't until this morning or I would've been here sooner." She brings her hand to Nick's curls, running her fingers through them slowly. Tears start cascading down her face, seeing her boyfriend lying so still. "Is he going to be okay?" she wonders quietly.

Joe swallows hard, not wanting what he's about to say to be true.

"No, he's not," he answers just as softly. "Nicholas is going to die, Demi."

* * *

**The end! But don't worry, there _will _be a sequel. I can't leave you hanging like this, can I? But my next story is going to be _Guilty Until Proven Innocent _which will be totally different than anything I've ever written. But I'm very excited to start writing it. :) Anyway, please review and tell me what you think (both about the story and the new story idea)!**


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